Songs and Flowers
by PhiloSofea
Summary: After an accident that left him temporarily blind, Natsume Hyuuga was often visited by an unknown woman. Determined to seek her after her unexplained disappearance upon his recovery with only flowers and a sweet voice as his clues, he sets out to find her. AU, Unbeta-ed
1. Part I

**Title** : Songs and Flowers

 **Summary** : After an accident that left him temporarily blind, Natsume Hyuuga was often visited by an unknown woman. Determined to seek her after her disappearance upon his recovery with only flowers and a sweet voice as his clues, he sets out to find her. AU, Unbeta-ed

 **Pairing** : Summer Tangerine Pairing (NatsuMikan)

 **Genre** : Romance

 **Rating** : T

 **A.N.** : Although I still read GA fics, I'm hardly around the fandom due to my weakening interest in it. However, watching the anime and rereading the manga rekindled my childhood love for it. So here's a present to those who still love GA even after they've reached adulthood.

 **Disclaimer** : If I own the manga, do you honestly think I would be writing fanfics?

 **Warning** : I might change the title. This title makes me go, "Meh."

 **P.S.** : Page breaker design belongs to the amazing Esa MaRie. I'm merely abusing it.

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~.~`~``,`.;.*.;.*.;.*.;.`,``~`~.~

 **Part I: The Sweetness of Meeting, The Bitterness of Parting**

~.~`~``,`.;.*.;.*.;.*.;.`,``~`~.~

Although he would never admit it out loud, Natsume vividly remembered the first time she visited him.

His entire world back then (in those short, agonising times) was a dark void. Accompanying the darkness were scents that irritated his nose and senses that were made incredibly sensitive upon his lost sense of sight. Although his body was blessedly free of cursed tubes, he did not move for fear of bumping into things and only making himself a nuisance.

The doctor said his blindness was temporary, but it still unsettled him. He had, like most normal people, relied heavily on his eyes. So to have his sight taken away rattled him.

Not for the first time, he cursed the accident and the person that caused him to end up in this pitiful state. Had it not been for the clumsy person and unfortunate accident, he would have been the one to stand up and defend his client at court. He grudgingly admitted that it was a good thing that his distant, aloof and coldly professional cousin, Hotaru Imai had agreed to take over the case in his stead (after bribing her with lots and lots of snow crabs). He, in a very brief flash of emotion, pitied the prosecutor who had the misfortune of facing her in court for he knew she would use every means in her power as a successful attorney to win the case. It is simply not in her nature to lose and no matter how much he disliked his cousin, he will admit that she delivered excellent results every time.

But the idea that Imai was defending his client did not calm him down. In fact, it made him feel worthless.

 _I should be the one to deal with my own client's case. I should be there at court. I shouldn't have been so careless as to put myself in this state._

Those bitter thoughts ran circles in his head. He hated feeling pathetic, worthless, useless.

And to top it all off, the police had not found the culprit responsible for his accident. If anything else, they seemed reluctant to even the mention the case. That made him more bitter than usual.

The cold autumn wind once again blew through the opened window of his hospital room, chilling his already shivering body. He had wanted to close it since the moment the idiotic nurse that tended to him that day opened it, claiming he needed fresh air. He wanted to beat some sense into her. Just who in their right would open a window of a blind patient in the middle of autumn? Does she want him to catch a cold?

But alas, he couldn't. The window was a few steps away from his bed and one wrongly calculated move could end up with him kissing the floor.

He was about to start vulgarly cursing when he heard the door slid open. He stilled.

He could hear footsteps. The light footsteps drew nearer. He could feel the person directly beside him. The sound of the windows closing shut (although quite welcome) did nothing to calm him.

"Are you alright?" a sweet voice asked him. The person, who he can now safely identify as female drew a chair beside his bed. He could hear cloth rustling softly and smell the faint scent of orange blossoms and vanilla. He could feel his eyes narrowing.

This person is not one of the nurses or doctors in this hospital. He had come to rely on his sense of smell to determine the people around him. All nurses and doctors, when in the hospital, smell of deceptive soap and sterile antiseptic. This woman did not have that noxious scent.

"I closed the windows. It's chilly outside," the woman continued. "You were shivering when I came in. I hope you don't mind. Colds aren't very forgiving in autumn."

At his continued silence, the woman let out a giggle. It sounded like chiming bells. "They sure weren't joking when they say you don't talk much."

A frown formed on his face and the woman stopped laughing.

She drew in a breath. "As you may have guessed, I'm not a nurse or a doctor. I'm simply a visitor. A friend of mine convinced me to come and check up on you, every day if possible, starting from today."

He slowly turned his head to 'look' in the general direction of the woman's voice. "Who asked you to come here?"

"I can't tell you that. All I can say is that you know this person very well and is relatively close to you."

He gave out a low curse and growled under his breath. "Get out. I don't need a damn nanny to take care of me." If this is one of Aoi's, Ruka's or, God forbid, his mother's attempt at playing matchmaker, he will be damned if he play along. Why can't they understand that the one thing that he could not stand is women?

He could almost sense the girl shaking her head in refusal. "I can't do that," she told him, her voice gentle yet firm with resolve. "I gave my word to them that I would keep you company while you're recuperating. And I don't make promises I can't keep."

Instantly, he knew what kind of woman she is. She's the type who was gentle and cheerful in terms of personality, yet firm and stubborn in making decisions. In a way, this woman reminded him of his dear sister; cheerful as a happy child yet stubborn as a mule. He knew he could not make this woman change her mind. He had learned as much when dealing with Aoi whenever she was being impossible.

He huffed grumpily. "Whatever," he desolately muttered. However, if she thought he had surrendered peacefully, she was painfully mistaken. One thing is for sure, he would not make this woman's supposedly regular visits a walk in the park. He will have his solitude back, one way or another.

The woman clapped her hands in glee. "Wonderful!"

~.~`~``,`.;.*.;.*.;.*.;.`,``~`~.~

That day had been the start of everything between them. She always came in the afternoon or occasionally, in the evening when she had things to attend to. When she came, she would always greet him in the same sweet and cheerful voice that he remembered from their first meeting. And every time she did he pointedly ignored her by dismissively turning his head away from the direction of the door. His rudeness and silence unperturbed her though. Then, she would begin telling him about everything, from the latest news to the gossip running rampant in their rapidly corrupting society. She told him about amusing anecdotes and the fascinating places she had the fortune to visit. All the while, he would feign sleeping. Again, it did not bother the woman from talking. Strangely enough, his silences encouraged her. Sometimes, when he truly was annoyed he would insult her callously, the way he did whenever he was surrounded by snake-like women in soirees. But still, it did not stop her from talking to him or visiting him. When she truly thought he was sleeping, he could hear her sing a soft melody or hear the rustling sound of pages of a book turned. Those times were very rare.

It had been like that for the first few times she visited.

He really tried to send her away (yelling insults in her face, ignoring her with his silent attitude, sometimes, he tried to throw his pillow at her), but as he had correctly guessed earlier, this woman was too stubborn. Nothing could stop her from visiting. He would be lying if he said it did not affect him. He could bend and break anybody at court successfully but he couldn't even make this woman change her decision. His bad mood was made apparent and noticed by his mother, Aoi and Ruka whenever they visited him.

It got even worse when the day ended and visiting hours were over. In the silence of the night, her words rang through his head, her sweet voice refused to leave his memories, her songs haunted him in his dreams and he could remember her cheerful laughter whenever he tried to force himself to sleep.

He was starting to hate the woman. With the exception of his coldly professional cousin, no woman could get under his skin and mess his head as the woman did. How dare she unnerve him when even veteran prosecutors and untruthful witnesses cowered before him.

His thoughts about her start to change one day. The time came when the nurse had tried to feed him his meals. He abhorred mealtimes because, due to his blind state, he needed somebody to help him eat as he certainly could not do it alone. Normally, the nurse would whisper a few inappropriate words to him as she fed him, but he took it all in stride. He needed to get better soon, and in order to do that, he needed to gain his strength back and heal. So far, the nurse had tried to seduce him with words but nothing more.

However, that day, during his lunch time, his shock was all encompassing when he felt a pair of greedy lips upon his own. His forgot to close his mouth due to the disgustingly intimate gesture and that gave the nurse plenty of time to shove the slimy appendage people call a tongue down his throat together with badly cooked rice and bland chicken broth.

The _damn bitch_ was _trying to feed_ him with _her filthy_ _ **mouth**_ **.**

He remembered how he had struggled, trying to get the evil succubus off of him, but to no avail. Whether it was because he had not been at his full strength or it was simply the nurse being stronger than him, he could not tell. All he could recall were the wretched taste of lipstick and bad hospital food in his mouth and how much he had tried to push the woman off of him and failed to do so.

Then, he heard the door slide open and he heard a gasp. A loud cry resounded through the room and he heard a sweet, familiar voice scream, "Somebody! Help, _please_! A nurse is sexually assaulting my friend!"

The nurse finally removed herself off of him at the scream and let out a loud string of curses that would make a sailor proud. The sound of running footsteps leaving his room and something bumping against one another was audible. He could also hear light footsteps running towards him as gentle, comforting and welcoming arms pulled him in a hug.

"Are you alright?" the sweet voice asked. _Ahh_ , it was the stubborn woman who always visited him, the one who was so talkative.

He was so relieved that he completely let himself fall in her embrace, his face buried in her neck as the woman soothingly rubbed his back with warm, gentle hands, trying to comfort him as she spoke reassuring words. He greedily breathed in the innocent scent of orange blossoms and vanilla. Normally, he would never show such weakness to anybody, even his family, but, damn it, he was so _terrified_ and so shocked, he wanted familiarity and comfort then and there. And apparently, this woman was the only one who can offer him both right now.

As he heard two people enter the room, who turned out to be doctors who had heard the woman's cries for help, the sudden realization that he had considered the woman comforting and familiar and definitely not a source of hatred did not shock him as he thought it would. In fact, it made him feel safe.

And with that, something strange started to develop in the young, blind attorney's chest.

~.~`~``,`.;.*.;.*.;.*.;.`,``~`~.~

Apparently, the nurse who had fed him during meal times and sexually assaulted him did not work at the hospital. In fact, she was never a nurse to begin with. The hospital staff who saw her running out of the room claimed that they did not know the nurse. An investigation was conducted and it was determined that the fake nurse was a fan-turned-stalker of his. The police and hospital staff immediately came to the conclusion that the stalker disguised herself as a nurse (with a fake ID and all) to get closer to him. Thus, the hospital transferred him to another safer, more comfortable ward as an apology and to make sure it never happened again. The hospital also tightened their security.

That should have been the end of it. However, because of the callous assault, his trust towards the hospital staff was blown away like dried autumn leaves would when the cold wintry winds pass by. The damage had been done.

Shortly after that horrific force-feeding incident, he refused to eat hospital food and allow a nurse or doctor to enter the room. The moment somebody entered and the smell of antiseptic intermingled with soap hit him like a ton of bricks, he would start yelling and shouting at them to leave. He would never again trust himself to be alone with these people. One would never know the thoughts lingering in their hearts. Scared out of their minds, the nurses and doctors decided to abide by his demand but his refusal to eat food worried them.

His mother and sister were notified of his condition and the incident that caused it. They tried to persuade him to eat, but for the life of him, he couldn't. Whenever food passed through his lips, he could remember the taste of the bitch's lipstick and her hateful mouth upon his, and at the remembrance, bile rose up in his throat. The only thing he could stomach were fruits. It was enough to keep him alive yet definitely not enough to keep him healthy.

Ruka tried to coax him to eat some take out from a restaurant Natsume had often visited before in an effort to make him eat, but a few bites was all he could take before he pushed the food away. Somehow, he could not bring himself to eat it no matter how hard he tried to force his mind to accept it. _This is not hospital food,_ he reasoned with himself. _This is a take out from a restaurant you yourself frequented before. Surely, you can eat it?_

He _can't._ He can't eat it. In the back of his mind, he knew he couldn't eat anything now, not when he could remember a rude tongue savagely exploring his mouth together with the taste of bland food.

The cheerful yet mysterious woman was also worried about him. She had tried to distract him of his hunger by talking about, well, anything that she thought would put his mind away from his troubles. It worked, but only for a short while before the hunger cramps came back. As she peeled apples for him, she enquired about his physical state now that he was refusing to eat anything that was not fruit. Of course, her question was met with his typical silence but Natsume knew the woman had known him enough to tell through the silence that, no, he was not okay and yes, fruit and warm water was not enough. His stomach cramped as though angry at his refusal to grant it what it had wanted so badly.

He was saved, though, again, by the mysterious woman with the sweet voice. Three visits after that horrible experience (something which he now dubbed as _The Incident,_ with a capital T and I), the woman came in through his newly designated room as she had normally done before. Then, along with the familiar scent of orange blossoms and vanilla, came a wonderful aroma that, had he not had such good self control, he would have started drooling. The woman had come bringing him some chicken porridge and ginger tea she had made herself. Like Ruka, Aoi and his mother, she had persuaded him to try some.

At first, he was sceptical. Both his mother and Aoi, together with Ruka had failed to get him to eat anything. However, at that point, his craving for real food was so desperate that he agreed without question, without any of his usual insults or cold remarks.

The woman held up a spoonful of chicken porridge to his lips and as he hesitantly accepted it, he realized his prayers were answered. There was no sudden flashback of the fake nurse, no taste of badly cooked rice, no texture of disgusting lipstick. There was only bliss. He could feel his eyes closing in bliss as he savoured the wonderful taste.

He accepted spoonful after spoonful of porridge until the woman announced that he had finished everything and handed him a cup of hot ginger tea which washed down the delicious taste of the chicken porridge and warmed him to the core.

For the first time, he was truly inwardly grateful that he had met this woman. She had not saved him once, not twice but thrice. Once, with her willingness to accompany his bitter and pathetic self with her pleasant presence (something which he could finally admit after so many denials), twice by coming at the right place at the right time during The Incident, and now by finally bringing back his ability to swallow food down without feeling nauseous.

The woman had sounded very happy for him and it was obvious in her tone when she spoke to him. He was sure he did not smile but he could tell that a content expression was set on his face. He did not scowl and frown nor did he pretend to sleep anymore. He listened as the woman talked, her voice blanketing him with a feeling serenity and security. He absorbed everything she said like sponge would when submerged in water.

When it was finally time for her to leave, she said to him, "Have a good day, Hyuuga-san. I hope you get better soon."

And when he can no longer hear her footsteps, he settled himself into the bed as he felt his eyelids covered his temporarily blind eyes. Then, her parting words rang to him. No, it was not the _'Have a good day'_ part or the _'I hope you get better soon'_ bit. It was when she said his name.

 _"Hyuuga-san."_

As he opened his eyes in shock, he realized –

He didn't know the woman's name. The woman never told him her name.

~.~`~``,`.;.*.;.*.;.*.;.`,``~`~.~

The woman had come in the morning the next day, this time bringing rich tomato soup which was incredibly delicious. She told the doctor who was in charge of him, Dr. Itou, that she would cook his meals from now on. And the doctor had agreed. She giggled delightfully as she mentioned how terribly relieved the doctor looked when she mentioned that he was eating.

"It looked like the doctor would faint from happiness. I think, if I wasn't there with him, he would've start kneeling, thanking his lucky stars. You certainly don't make yourself an easy patient, Hyuuga-san," was what she said, in an almost exasperated tone.

True to her words, after she left that morning, his mother came in the afternoon and helped him eat his lunch which was a chicken sandwich and apple slices. Ruka came in the early evening and spoon fed him rice and vegetable stew. From the moment his taste buds met his lunch and dinner, he immediately knew that she had not been lying when she said she had made it. Hospital food just don't taste this good. For that, he was inwardly thankful that the mysterious woman was a very good cook.

Although they were also grateful, his sister and his mother had wondered about the woman's intentions when Dr. Itou mentioned her to them. It was the same with Ruka.

"Maybe she's indebted to you. Are you sure you haven't met her somewhere at court? Perhaps you had helped a friend or a family member and now she's returning the favour by helping you," his mother reasoned.

"Maybe she's one of your admirers. That shouldn't be anything new for you would it, baka-niichan?" That was Aoi's speculation.

"She's most likely related to the doctors or nurses working in this hospital. She's probably helping you recover to ease their minds. That kind of thing happened all the time in hospitals," Ruka had said when Natsume quietly asked for his opinion.

When Natsume asked for physical description of the woman from Dr. Itou, he had refused saying that he had promised the woman he would not tell anybody about her including his patient and nurses. The same goes for Natsume's family and friends, no matter how much they wanted to thank her personally. That disappointed him a bit. His family and best friend also tried bullying Dr. Itou into spilling the beans about the mysterious woman, but he did not budge. Although, Aoi mentioned with a rather malevolent cackle, the doctor looked nervously scared.

The day went by and night came. Visiting hours were once again over. He leaned back in his bed as both his arms pillowed his head.

Natsume spent almost half the night thinking about her.

Ever since he realized that he did not know the woman's name, he became curious and wary. For a talkative and sociable woman, she had never once mentioned her name to him. Why wouldn't she tell him? Was she hiding something? Was it something that he had said or did that discouraged her to tell him her name? Or was it something else?

If anything else, the woman was determined not to give out anything that might hint at her identity, if Dr. Itou's adamant refusal to reveal information and her pointedly ignored self introduction was anything to go by. The fact that his family and best friend did not know who she is only deepened the mystery.

At least this wasn't a matchmaking attempt.

He immediately crossed out the possibility that she was one of his fan girls or stalkers. If she were, he would have been eaten alive from the moment he had unintentionally presented himself as vulnerable. It happened with the fake nurse during _The Incident._ He had admittedly let his guard down quite a few time before in her presence and she hadn't jumped on the numerous chances when she could have had her way with him.

She certainly was not his colleague. His colleagues all had the same air, intimidating and demanding; the result of numerous times defending or prosecuting at court having to show a mask of cool confidence and convincing assuredness, a mask refined and polished through repeated use and an intimidating aura they developed to help get through the trials. They were definitely not as calming and gentle as she is.

Maybe she was a former classmate or schoolmate during his schooldays. But that can't be, for he would've remembered somebody as stubbornly determined as her. In fact he remembered the faces and voices of all his schoolmates. His female schoolmates had either screechy annoying voices with an almost fanatic personality or unfeeling monotones with a cold attitude that would make ice seem hot.

Or maybe his mother, Aoi or Ruka was right. She could've been a relative of someone he had helped in court. She could've simply been another one of his admirers or perhaps she was trying to help her relatives who were working in the hospital. But he found it quite hard to believe.

If she had been a relative of a client he helped in court, he was sure that he would be able to identify her easily. After winning cases, relatives of his clients always came to him and gave their heartfelt _'Thank you'_ to him. If this woman's personality is anything to go by, she would've thanked him the moment he stepped out of court.

The sheer idea that she was an admirer made him scoff in disbelief. Had she truly been an admirer, she would've done everything he asked her to including his desire to be left alone. Her unyielding resolve during the first time she visited had certainly made him believe that she was no admirer.

He had considered Ruka's speculation. Perhaps she was related to the hospital staff. That seemed like the most likely reason. However, his instinct was telling him that Ruka was wrong for she did not have that nauseating soap and antiseptic smell. It was silly to contradict Ruka's thought based on her scent of all things. But, he reasoned, how can a person not smell like a hospital after staying in one for so long? Even Natsume was starting to believe he smelled like a sick patient; like bitter medicine, chemicals and old paper.

Then he remembered what she told him during that first time meeting her.

 _"A friend of mine convinced me to come and check up on you, every day if possible, starting from today."_

At that reminder, he frowned fiercely. Did that friend of hers told her not to mention her name? Did that friend of her told her to accompany him and then when he was weak enough, destroy his good and flawed (yet exactly what he had thoroughly believed) perception of her as a prank? That would be possible, but if it is, it is one cruel joke.

However, the woman sounded genuine about her feelings and emotions and he definitely knew that she's the type he would wear her heart on her sleeve? Could somebody as seemingly sweet as her perform such deception? But no, if she did, he would notice. He was not one of the most sought after defence attorneys in Japan for nothing. Seeing through lies was his forte. It was what he always did in court. Such a thing would be impossible.

Or maybe she didn't tell Natsume her name because the moment he recovered, she would disappear from his life just as suddenly as she had appeared in it. But that doesn't seem possible, because from her personality, she was the kind of person who loves to make new friends and he was pretty sure the woman considered him as a friend. If she does, a disappearing act is unlikely.

Or maybe...

 _She hates you._

Despite being blind, he could feel his eyes blinking at that. Where did that come from?

 _She despises you._

His fists clenched. No, that can't be. If she hated him, she would've made it clear from the moment she met him. She doesn't strike him as deceptively secretive, more of a forthcoming person.

 _She's terrified of you._

Why would she be? He fisted the bed sheets, strangely angered by these hateful lines of thoughts. She had no reason to be scared of him, not in his state. In fact, _he_ should be scared of her. She could do anything to him, any time at all. And he would be helpless to her machinations. He had already somewhat trusted her and that trust for her was a serious chink in his armour. Again, there is plenty of opportunity for her to take advantage of him. And she never did anything like that, as far as he knew. So that's that.

 _How would you know? You're blind._

He carded a hand through his hair in frustration. This is ridiculous. This whole thing is _ridiculous_. _He_ was being ridiculous. He's hopelessly blind in a damn hospital bed in a freaking ward. He doesn't need to hear malevolent voices inside his head or develop schizophrenia; he had enough on his plate.

Fine, he decided. If that woman wouldn't tell him her name, he would give her a new one. Something that would suit her.

~.~`~``,`.;.*.;.*.;.*.;.`,``~`~.~

The following visit, after a breakfast of creamy mushroom soup and slices of freshly baked homemade bread, he called her "Sakura."

He chose Sakura because she reminded him of spring, wonderfully scented and exuded a gentle warmth. Whenever he thought of spring, he would be reminded of the cherry blossom tree, with its sturdy trunk and branches covered with soft and fragrant pink petals which would swirl around him as they fell to the ground. She was like a cherry blossom tree, with her firm resolve contrasting with her soft demeanour, just like how the hard woodiness of the trunk contrasted with the soft beauty of the pink flowers.

When he had called her that, she let out a surprised gasp. Weirdly enough, it seemed to have shocked her terribly. Filled with the strange urge to comfort her, he said grudgingly, "You never told me your name and you probably never would. It's difficult calling you 'the woman' or 'that woman' all the time. Do you have a problem with that?"

A heavy silence ensued. Natsume subtly shifted his body, uncomfortable with her silence. Sakura was never like this whenever she visited him. Then slowly, she asked, "No, I don't mind. After all, it's my fault for not telling you my name. I have my own reasons for never mentioning it, so I'm sorry. It's just..." At that she trailed off.

"Why would you decide to call me 'Sakura'?" Her voice had a odd tone to it.

At that, he could feel a very slight heat creeping up in his cheeks. Although he thought it was a good choice of name for her, his reason for picking it was pretty cheesy.

The woman must've seen his blush for she had let out charming laugh, dispelling the uncomfortable atmosphere. "It's fine," she said. "I won't push the issue. It must've been a pretty cheesy one if your blush is anything to go by," she teased him.

She had continued giggling when he turned his face away from her, embarrassed. He cursed himself. Why was he acting like a damn blushing schoolgirl? Men _do not_ get embarrassed over something as simple as a **_name_**!

When she had finally stopped laughing, she said, "Its fine. I don't mind being called 'Sakura'. It's a nice name. Cherry blossom; reminds me of spring."

He had been unable to stop the faint upturn of his lips when he heard her words.

And with that, he started to call her 'Sakura.'

~.~`~``,`.;.*.;.*.;.*.;.`,``~`~.~

Time pass by. Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months. Autumn shed its final leaves as it gave way to Winter's icy breath and pure snow. Natsume had spent very content days in that peaceful period. Of course, if given the choice, he would have chosen a better setting (biding his time in a hospital bed had him bored silly) but he was grateful for the very few company he had.

His family and his best friend made his stay in the hospital ward better, but it was Sakura that had him looking forward to new things every day, the single spot of light in his world of dark void. Sometimes, he would catch himself tilting his head at the general direction of the door longingly, waiting to hear her light footsteps and her cheerful voice. Other times, he would unconsciously sniff the air hoping to catch even a faint trace of her pleasant scent. Instead of hating having to depend on Sakura to eat his breakfast, he was pretty shocked to find that he was looking forward to the feeding sessions.

These things had made him realize that Sakura was quickly turning from an acquaintance to a very close companion. His relationship with her wasn't the same as his relationship with Ruka, who he also considered a close friend, his best friend. While both of them were able to connect to him, relate to him and truly listen in his silences more than his words, his feelings for Sakura were different than his feelings for Ruka. Ruka made him feel calm and collected, but Sakura made him feel free and warm.

He knew that it was not friendship he felt with Sakura as it was far more complicated and he certainly did not have a name for this emotion. But that's alright. He doesn't mind. He could take his time exploring it later on.

That winter, along with his upcoming birthday, he would be proven how truly wrong he was, that his time with her was limited and he was running out of it – fast.

~.~`~``,`.;.*.;.*.;.*.;.`,``~`~.~

One cold morning, as he woke up from his sleep, his eyes opened and he could see blurs of shifting colours. He told Dr. Itou about it and the doctor had said that his eye sight was coming back, faster than he had expected.

His mother, Aoi and Ruka were beside themselves with happiness. Sakura had also been happy for him, but he could sense that her enthusiastic response was tinged with something else. Was it sorrow? Trepidation? Fear? He couldn't tell.

The next day, the blurs shifted into focus. He could now make out a few things. A white curtain, a glass window framed with metal, the light green walls, his skin which looked sallow (it used to be a healthy tan), the blue colour of his hospital garb, the cream colour of the carpet, anything he could identify.

He can now also make out people's features such as Ruka's sunshine blond hair, his mother and sister's raven locks. He tried especially hard when Sakura came. He could make out long silky auburn hair, a light pink long sleeved sweater, a white knee length skirt which fluttered as she moved, fair, unblemished skin, small hands and delicate, rosy lips.

Of course he was discontented with just those features. But they will have to do for now. Besides, his sight would probably make a full recovery tomorrow. Tomorrow, he could finally see how she truly looked like. Tomorrow, she would have nothing to hide.

On the third day, which was his birthday, his sight completely came back, exactly as he predicted. He can now see everything clearly and with clarity. His mother looked so happy and her eyes were suspiciously bright. His sister was so excited; she hugged him so tightly he almost couldn't breathe. Ruka had smiled and patted his shoulder. "Good for you, Natsume."

However, the one person he had anticipated the whole day never came. Sakura did not come that morning or in the afternoon. It wasn't until evening that Natsume realized Sakura knew he made a full recovery. A bouquet of flowers came for him, delivered by Dr. Itou. Delicately arranged irises, jasmine, white poppies, pink roses, white bell flowers and purple hyacinths greeted him. A card was inserted in the folds of the wrapping.

He read it. And as he read the words written in a neat and feminine script, he could feel his mounting anger, dissatisfaction, hurt, sadness and pain course through his blood furiously.

 _'What a horrible birthday gift,'_ he wryly thought. To have this happen to him on the day he recovered, on _the same day as his birthday_...she was cruel. _Much too cruel._

He let out a sigh and stared at the beautiful bouquet with burning intensity.

He will be damned if he let the woman escape from him. Once he set his sights on something, he will _never_ let it go. Sakura was somebody he will _never_ let go, especially when he had then finally realized what he truly felt for her upon finished reading the note.

Sakura will not escape him, not after she had shown him happiness and contentment, not after she had made him an addict to her soothing presence.

Not after she made him _fall in love_ with her. Like hell would he let her slip away from his fingers after she had changed him so much.

Sakura will receive what she gave to him tenfold. He will make sure of that.

~.~`~``,`.;.*.;.*.;.*.;.`,``~`~.~

 _Dear Hyuuga-san,_

 _I'm happy that you had recovered fully. I imagine that you must be very excited. However I could not be there for you, not anymore. I could not share your happiness, just as how I could not share with you my given name. However, always know that I had not regretted spending my days with you. Those days of peace and contentment, I will remember it for the rest of my life. Regretfully, I knew I could no longer stay with you the moment you made your full recovery and that these wonderful times will not last. Yesterday will be the last time you'll ever see me._

 _Please, carry on and continue your life as you had once done before I stepped foot into your ward. Assume that I never existed in your life. Pretend that I was nothing more than a phantom that had disturbed you for a brief moment. And last of all, I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me._

 _Oh, and Happy Birthday, Hyuuga-san. May you live your life to the fullest._

 _-Sakura_

~.~`~``,`.;.*.;.*.;.*.;.`,``~`~.~

 **End of Part I**

~.~`~``,`.;.*.;.*.;.*.;.`,``~`~.~

A.N. : So how was it? Too sweet? Too sappy? Too OOC? Too much? Let your thoughts run wild and write a review to let me know what you think.

Personally, I think Natsume's a bit docile here and Mikan (Sakura) is just too soft and gentle. However, I think it's alright. After all, this is an alternate universe, where they had lead different lives, experienced different things and met different people than the canon universe. These things can shape a person's character, just as how it had shaped us into the person we are now. And do remember that the Natsume and Mikan were somewhere around 10 to 13-14 years old for the most part of the manga while in this story both of them are in their early or mid twenties. To quote a review I read a long time ago about Mikan being OOC in a fanfic which is not mine, this person typed:

 _"NO ONE IS THE SAME AS THEY WERE WHEN THEY WERE 10. That's actually always been a complaint of mine for GA fics. Sure, Mikan is a typical sheltered country girl who was raised by an old man, so she matured slower than everyone else. But sooner or later everyone grows up. Even Mikan. Why people think it's funny to have a 16 year old with the brain of a 5 year old is beyond me. She'd be a sexual assault victim waiting to happen."_

...something like that. Nice to know that someone had noticed.

Oh, and before I forget, some of you might be wondering what the flowers in bouquet symbolises. So here is something to guide you guys.

Iris – Good news/Glad tidings/Loyalty

Jasmine – Friendly/Graceful

Poppies (White) – Rejoice/Celebrate

Roses (Pink) – Trust/Perfect Happiness/Confidence/Grace/Thankfulness

Bell Flowers (White) - Gratitude

Hyacinth (Purple) – Sorry/Please forgive me/Sorrow

So there. I hope you're satisfied with the answers. Also, this story would have 3 or 4 parts. I've written the draft and it was too damn long, I couldn't even call it an attempt at one-shot (which was what this monstrosity was supposed to be). So...yeah. 3 or 4 parts and if there are no complications, updates will come on a weekly basis.

Until next time.


	2. Part II

**Title** : Songs and Flowers

 **Summary** : After an accident that left him temporarily blind, Natsume Hyuuga was often visited by an unknown woman. Determined to seek her after her unexplined disappearance upon his recovery with only flowers and a sweet voice as his clues, he sets out to find her. AU, Unbeta-ed

 **Pairing** : Summer Tangerine Pairing (NatsuMikan)

 **Genre** : Romance, Drama

 **Rating** : T

 **A.N.** : Here's Part 2. Boy, am I glad everything went ok. As you can probably guess, Part 2 is all about Natsume going on a mad search to find his dear Sakura, while discovering and learning new things along the way that might shock him. Let's root for him, shall we? GO, GO, NATSUME!

 **Disclaimer** : If I own the manga, do you honestly think I would be writing fanfics?

 **Warning** : I might change the title. This title makes me go, "Meh."

 **P.S. :** Page breaker design belongs to the amazing Esa MaRie. I'm merely abusing it.

...

...

~.~`~``,`.;.*.;.*.;.*.;.`,``~`~.~

 **Part II: The Things He Found Along The Way**

~.~`~``,`.;.*.;.*.;.*.;.`,``~`~.~

The air inside the Defendant Lobby felt as dry and cool as Natsume remembered it to be. Beside him was a young female police officer who went by the name of Misaki Harada. She was accused of murder and kidnapping. For someone who was said to have kidnapped and murder a fellow police officer, she certainly did not seem anxious or nervous. Perhaps it was because she knew she was innocent.

Or maybe because he would be the one defending her in court. After all, he was known for turning the tables of difficult cases, no matter how impossible the odds are for his clients. So far, he had only lost two trials and that was only because his client had been truly guilty of their crime.

All things considered, he didn't mind his losses. One needs to be responsible for one's actions. Escaping the consequences that came with it is foolish, not to mention cowardly.

Besides, he had believed that as a defence attorney, his job is to seek the truth, not just defend his client. It was why he had picked Law as his course in university. There is nothing quite as fascinating as truth, no matter how morbid or terrible it could be.

Flipping through the Court Records, he glanced at his watch. 10 minutes left before the trial starts.

"I'm placing my life in your capable hands, Mr. Hyuuga," the policewoman said. Her relaxed posture and her unguarded eyes all said the same things, that she was not worried nor did she believe herself to be guilty of crimes she was accused of. That only made Natsume determined to prove her innocence.

Closing the file in his hands, he nodded at her. "You can count on me."

As soon as those words left his mouth, the bailiff came forward. "The trial will begin soon. Will the defendant and the attorney step forward and come to the Court Room?"

Both of them stood up and walked towards the door.

 _It's show time._

~.~`~``,`.;.*.;.*.;.*.;.`,``~`~.~

"Natsume, you were _magnificent_ in there! I know I could always count on you," the man heartily spoke, his grin almost splitting his face in half and his dark blue eyes happily twinkled. Natsume's deep red irises darkened slightly at that, his expression clearly showing his intolerance of the man before him.

Why did he decide to take Harada's case into his hands when he knew that this buffoon will always be near her?

Oh yeah, he thought. Harada's case looked interesting and challenging. And he was never one to turn down a challenge.

But right now, he wondered, 'What the hell was I thinking when I accepted that case?'

"No, seriously, you were **amazing** in there. Watching you at court is always such a thrill, and you saved Misaki too! Thank goodness you managed to get the bastard responsible," the man said enthusiastically. Natsume closed his eyes, exasperated. If there's another person who he had thought extremely irritating, it would be the guy talking to him right now.

Tsubasa Andou, a young detective quickly climbing up his ranks in the Crime Department. A very easy-going guy with a brilliant mind for solving crimes. Held a huge crush for his childhood friend, Natsume's client, the policewoman Misaki Harada. Also had an impressive record of never letting his targeted criminals escape from him once he had set his eyes on them. Due to that his colleagues call him, 'Shadow', for he was exactly like one. Always there, always watching, always observing until the time comes for him to bare his fangs and strike. A truly professional man.

What a shame that he had an irritating personality. Natsume would have liked him if he had been more serious than mischievous. He first met him about 3 years ago while he was working on his first murder case. He was a huge help in it, but it grated Natsume's nerves whenever he was near for he never stopped harassing him (followed him everywhere like a lost puppy, calling him with ridiculously cute nicknames or trying to ruffle his hair). The playful nature of the star shaped tattoo under his left eye which had been obtained when he was heavily drunk a few months ago contradicts everything about the nature of his career. At first glance, you would think that he was a host working in a club, not a detective.

"Honestly man, thank you so much for agreeing to defend Misaki. If there was anybody whom I would trust with a person's life, it would be you," Andou unashamedly admitted. Then, his eyes suddenly brightened and Natsume watched him warily as he neared him. "I have to give you a reward or a favour! Come on, tell me, is there anything you want? Anything that I could help you with?"

Natsume glared. "If there was one thing that you can help me with, it's for you to scram and get lost from my sight," he spitefully replied. He had no time to deal with this foolishness. Couldn't Andou see that he hated playing games with him?

Andou laughed and waved his hand away, un-intimidated by him. "No, seriously Natsume. Is there anything that I could assist you in? Despite my personality, I'm pretty good at doing my job. Maybe I can treat you to some information you're looking for? Or maybe investigate about something. I'm also pretty good at finding people. Are you sure there's nothing I could do for you?"

At that, Natsume scowl slid off from his face, his expression quickly turning into a thoughtful one.

"Anything?" he asked.

Andou smiled like a Cheshire Cat. "Anything."

Natsume turned silent for a few seconds. "Meet me at Red Clover tomorrow, 3 o'clock sharp. We'll talk there."

~.~`~``,`.;.*.;.*.;.*.;.`,``~`~.~

The next day, Natsume was waiting at a table near the window of Red Clover Café. He calmly drank the hot cup of ginger tea he had ordered earlier, steadfastly ignoring the admiring glances directed at his way from the women in the establishment.

It had been two weeks since his eye sight returned. Two weeks since he had been discharged from the hospital. Two weeks since Sakura left him. His heart throbbed painfully at her disappearance.

Almost immediately after he was discharged, he proceeded to find every flower shop in Tokyo. Once, Sakura had let slip that she lived in Tokyo since she was ten. She couldn't be far from here.

Next he tried compiling a list of women in their early, mid and late twenties who lived in Tokyo. All of these women had long hair with an auburn shade. It had been hellish compiling it. He had never thought that there was that many women in Tokyo with long brown hair, and most of the time, their real hair colour isn't even brown.

The word difficult had been an understatement. It certainly didn't help that upon his recovery, there were cases and clients waiting for him. He hardly had the time to search for Sakura. He only had the time to scour the flower shops in Tokyo. At each flower shop he visited, strangely enough, all of them gave him the same answer.

 _"Sorry, sir. That bouquet did not come from this shop."_

Coming up with nothing from the bouquet of flowers, he tried searching for Sakura instead.

Keyword here is tried.

He set his cup of tea on the table and rubbed his face with both his hands, letting out a tired sigh.

Even after he had narrowed down the list, there were still too many women with long auburn hair and fair skin. He couldn't possibly watch all of them until he was certain of their identity. Which is why he wanted to meet Andou today. As a detective with plenty of resources and information at his disposal, it would be easier for him to find Sakura. Of course, he could also ask Imai to help him, but he didn't think he could handle the amount of merciless teasing coming from her following his request. Andou was the safer choice and he did need help. Doing this alone will take him forever and he doesn't have that.

Besides, he is an impatient man. He wanted Sakura as soon as possible near him, beside him, _with him,_ _together_ with him, **_one with him._**

He stilled at that.

 _Whooo, boy Natsume. Slow down dude. That's a little too disturbing isn't it? To think of innocent and sweet Sakura in that kind of light; either you are madly in love with her or you just need to get laid._

He violently shook his thoughts away as his ( _filthydirty_ _ **naughty**_ ) mind start conjuring up images from his dream last night. Last night, he had dreamed of Sakura, in his bedroom, on his bed, engaging with him in _flagrante delicto_. Granted, he only had blurry visions of her and her sweet voice, but apparently that was enough for him if his very vivid dreams were anything to go by.

Seriously, though. For him to think of _her_ in **that kind** of context… Maybe this was the result of all his avoidance games with woman. During most of his life, he never liked the simpering misses around him. If anything else, they annoyed him, which is why he never had a girlfriend or even a sexual partner warming his bed. His work and time spent with family and friends added with hours of intense workout in the gym were enough to keep his libido in check. However, that was before he had known Sakura.

He let his hands slid from his face as he stared at the people walking from the café's window.

Sakura had changed so many things about him; he wasn't sure whether he could go back to the way things were before. Heck, he wasn't sure whether he **_wanted_** to go back to the way things were. It doesn't even matter that he's falling deeply in love with somebody whose face he can't even make out (but he's sure, very, very sure that Sakura is a beautiful woman. With that fair skin and those delicate lips, those small hands and long silky locks, it would be the greatest injustice if she wasn't). He knew he can't go back now. That's why he needed to find Sakura. She's the only one right now who can aid him down this unknown road.

The door opened and came in Andou. Plastered on his face was his signature easy-going smile as he came towards Natsume. He had a few files in his hand.

"Sorry, did you wait long?" Andou asked. Natsume clasped both his hands together. "Nowhere near long enough," he muttered. Andou grinned at that slid into the empty seat opposite of him. He let his eyes roam around the café for a brief moment and whistled, mildly impressed.

"Nice place you picked for our date here." At that, Natsume scowled.

"It's not a date."

Andou shrugged and winked at him. "Whatever you say, _darling_ ," he crooned. He laughed good-naturedly as he casually avoided Natsume's angry punch. Then, Andou schooled his face into a serious expression.

"On to business then. What is it that you want from me?"

"I need you to find somebody."

"A man?"

Natsume shook his head lightly. "A woman."

At that, Andou eyebrows raised in surprise. _A woman?_

"Is she related to a case you're working on right now or something?"

"No. She's not."

"Ah," Andou let out, in an exaggerated knowing tone. "Is she the love of your life then? Is that why you're looking for her?" he boisterously chuckled. Natsume didn't comment. His cheeks coloured slightly at that statement but his eyes still held the same seriousness. His laugh quickly quieted down as he stared at the young attorney's face, his eyes widening and his mouth opened in shock.

"She is? You're _serious_?"

Natsume turned his head away from him, his cheeks darkened further. "Do you have a problem with that?" he desolately whispered.

Andou wondered what had happened to the once indifferent and uninterested young man before him. He had never once shown interest in women (or men, thank **God** ). He was starting to worry that Natsume was an asexual. With this, it seemed that the young and promising attorney was a normal healthy guy after all.

A fond smile slowly formed on the detective's lips. When he had first met Natsume, he had the impression that Natsume was a good person, a bit socially awkward, a little cold and aloof, a bit too much of a workaholic, but a good person nonetheless. It was why he had constantly bothered the young attorney to the point of annoying him; he didn't like the idea of such a good person being alone. And frankly speaking, it's high time he had someone who can warm that heart of his and show him the wonders and joys of life. And if there's anything he can do to help, he would. He shook his head.

"No, not at all. What do you want me to do then?"

With a quietly relieved sigh, Natsume told him his plan.

~.~`~``,`.;.*.;.*.;.*.;.`,``~`~.~

"Don't worry, dude. I'll help you find her," Andou said, looking over the list of women and the picture of the bouquet Natsume had taken. That same fond smile that formed on his lips before never left his face the whole time Natsume explained his situation. He found it a bit odd, but not uncomfortable, so he let it slide.

"You do that."

Andou rubbed both his hands in glee. "I can't wait to meet this person! You wouldn't mind if I introduce myself to her first when I do find her, do you? She must be a seriously hot chick if you're this crazy for her," he playfully told him. Natsume's ferocious scowl made him blanch slightly, though. "Yikes, I'm just kidding, I'm just kidding. No need to glare at me like that," he raised both his hands in surrender.

Natsume didn't look as though he believed him. He slowly took another sip from his now tepid tea as his suspicious gaze gradually turned to look at the files Andou had brought with him. Andou noticed the curiosity in his eyes.

"Ahh, that reminds me. These files are the files from your accident some time ago. Investigations were over a few days ago, and we managed to find the person involved."

 _Ahh, files from his accident, eh?_

Andou handed him the file. "Here, you can take a look at it if you like. This is my copy of it. Be sure to return it to me when you're done."

He stared at the file with an unreadable expression as he slowly accepted it. His eyes had turned solemn.

Andou gave him a brilliant smile. "Well, then, if that's all, I have to go. I'm on a **date** with Misaki today! She _finally_ agreed to go out with me. I can't be late for my first date!" he spoke in an ecstatic tone, his eyes looked star struck. With, that he stood up and walked out of the café with a light spring in his steps. Natsume watched him curiously.

 _So, that's how a person is like when they are together with the one they like_ , he thought. Will he be like that when he finally met with Sakura again? He shuddered at the thought of him acting like that. The thought of meeting her is very nice but he can't picture himself being all happy and cheery.

No matter. He opened the file Andou gave him and read the contents in silence.

~.~`~``,`.;.*.;.*.;.*.;.`,``~`~.~

In the silent comfort of his apartment, as he slowly poured some coffee, his eyes glanced at the papers he was just reading, the ones Andou gave to him about his accident.

The name of the man who had rammed into his car was Izumi Yukihira, age 42. The road was slippery because it was raining at the time and he lost control of his car. He died at the same hospital as the one he was staying in a few hours after the ambulance had rescued them both from their mangled cars. Cause of death had been a major loss of blood. Living family members are Kazu Yukihira, age 46, his elder brother who was an elementary school principal and Mikan S. Yukihira, age 22, his daughter and his only child. His wife, Yuka A. Yukihira, age 41, died a few months earlier in summer due to an accident that happened while she was walking pass through a very empty construction site. Some of the cables at the site snapped due to the heavy winds and that released the metal frames as they fall straight down, right where Miss Yukihira had been at the time. It caused instant death.

The recently orphaned Mikan Yukihira is currently the legal proprietor of her mother's aromatherapy shop, Soothing Scents and her father's fairly successful restaurant, Citrus Bistro. She now divides her time running the businesses and she seemed to be doing well.

Natsume took a seat from his coffee as he flipped through the pages, carefully reading them.

The progress during the investigation was slow because of Mikan Yukihira's state of mind and Kazu Yukihira's inability to cooperate. After her father's burial, she fell into a deep state of depression and was in no condition to help their investigation and Kazu Yukihira had his hands tied with running his school, taking care of the legal papers following his brother's death and trying to cure his niece's troubled mind.

Natsume set the papers down on the table as he gazed at Tokyo's brilliant city lights from the bay windows of his lavish apartment. He thought about Mikan Yukihira.

At first, he did not feel anything as he read the report. Though, admittedly, he did feel a slight twinge of guilt and regret in his chest. After the accident, he only lost his eye sight temporarily, but this girl lost her father for good. He could relate to that loss as his father also died, albeit when he was young. His father had been a dorky man, somewhat resembling a puppy. He was very goofy and lovable towards his children, and very eager to please around his mother. Overall, he was a good person, a bit on the annoying side, but still alright.

And to lose both her parents in the same year, Natsume truly felt sorry for her. At least he still had his mother but this girl lost them both. She didn't even have siblings whom she can relate to. It must have been difficult.

Natsume entertained the thought of meeting her, but decided against it. The car accident had invited the Grim Reaper to her father and took him away from her. He didn't think she would be very happy to meet him.

~.~`~``,`.;.*.;.*.;.*.;.`,``~`~.~

He was blessedly free that day and he wanted to continue his search for Sakura. He was about to start when Ruka came. A few minutes of conversing with Ruka and Natsume found himself accompanying him. Before he knew it, he was in Ruka's convertible as they headed towards a destination Natsume was not privy of.

"Remind me why I'm here with you again?" Natsume quietly grumbled under his breath. Ruka smiled, a touch amused at his best friend's petulant behaviour.

"You're here with me because I want to hang out with you today. Hotaru told me you were free, so I decided now would be the perfect time to bother you. Besides, you need to get out of that stuffy office of yours and breathe some fresh air. Staying cooped up for long periods of time never did you any good," Ruka replied, a hint of playfulness colouring his tone. Natsume grunted. "Trust that blackmailing girlfriend of yours to tell you my schedule."

Ruka merely shrugged. Natsume released an exasperated huff at that. He went silent after that though.

A rather charming shop came into view as Ruka parked the car near the building. They both got out of the car as Ruka lead the way and walked into the charming shop. Stylish white letters, the 's' curled gracefully at the end; it read _Soothing Scents._

Natsume frowned. _Where did I hear that name before…?_

The moment Ruka opened the door, Natsume was hit with a rather pleasing floral scent and what greeted his sight were flowers. Rows and rows of flowers, arranged neatly and beautifully.

"What are we doing at here at a flower shop? You want to buy flowers for Imai or someone?" Natsume asked. Ruka chuckled.

"Natsume, this isn't a flower shop. This is a shop selling scented things and aromatherapy oils. The flowers that you see are used in their merchandise, though sometimes they do flower arrangements as well. The owner is pretty good at them, you see." At his reply, Natsume raised his eye brow at him.

"You know a lot about the shop. A regular customer, then?"

"Sort of," Ruka admitted, slightly bashful at his admittance. "Mom liked the products here. Auntie Kaoru and Aoi-chan likes it as well. Hotaru buys her perfume and soap here. Sometimes, mom and Hotaru asked me to buy things here. I also buy soap and shampoo here. They're really nice and soothing."

No sooner had Ruka uttered those words, a young girl with dark navy blue hair and a pleasant smile came.

"Welcome to Soothing Scents! What can I do for – oh!" The girl let out a gasp as recognition seemed to dawn at the sight of Ruka. "Hello, Nogi-san! Are you here to buy perfume and lotion for your mother again? And you even brought a friend with you," she remarked as she curiously eyed Natsume, appraisal in her dark eyes as she looked appreciatively at the dark, tall and handsome man before her.

Ruka nodded. "Yes, I am. Mother wanted me to buy some for her; the ones she bought are running out. And I'm here to buy some soap." Ruka gestured at Natsume. "This is my closest friend, Natsume Hyuuga," he introduced. "He's here to keep me company."

"Oh, I see…" the girl trailed off. The girl quickly slapped a smile on her face. "I'm Nonoko Ogasawara," she introduced herself, "the chemist and shop attendant working here. Nice to meet you, Hyuuga-san."

Natsume gave a nod. "Likewise, Ogasawara-san." She waved her hand dismissively at the formal reply.

"Please, call me Nonoko, no honorific. Besides 'Ogasawara-san' is much too long anyway," she said. Natsume nodded at that. "Alright, Nonoko," he said. She smiled at him, bright and pleasant, not at all flirty. He appreciated that. Too often he had met women who immediately approached him with the intent to seduce him, or his money.

She turned to Ruka. "You were looking for soap, lotion and perfume right?" At his nod, Nonoko guided him to where the merchandise was kept. Natsume didn't follow him; he wanted to look around for a bit. His eyes surveyed the place, taking in everything.

The shop had a warm aura and atmosphere to it, and it was rather welcoming, especially with the cold, pure snow and icy frost lingering outside. He breathed in the scent which pervaded the whole room. Unlike most aromatherapy shops, this shop did not smell heady or overpowering. In fact, it soothed his senses and he could feel himself relaxing. He thought back on what Ruka said about the shop.

 _A shop that sells scented products and offered flower arranging services, huh?_

At the thought of flower arrangements, he wondered whether the bouquet Sakura gave him came from this shop. If it did, it would explain why his search in the flower shops came up empty handed. Instead of a flower shop, he should have been looking for shops which offered flower arranging service.

Near the neat row of flowers was a rather small counter with pretty little glass bottles filled with aromatherapy oils and roller perfumes. He neared them. In front of each row of bottles and perfume was a scented paper. On a whim, he rubbed his index finger on an orange paper in front of the roller perfumes and lifted the finger to his nose. He closed his eyes as breathed in.

Orange blossoms and vanilla.

 _Sakura's scent._

At that thought, he opened his eyes in slight amazement. He sniffed his finger for a second time. It smelled exactly the same as Sakura's, orange blossoms with a vanilla undertone. _Well, well,_ what are the odds of finding the same scent that Sakura wears here?

He thought long and hard about it. If the bouquet he received truly did come from this shop, then the odds of Sakura coming here as a regular customer was also likely. And if she was a regular customer-

 _He might have a chance of meeting her here._

A smile formed on his lips. Finally, a lead. After almost three weeks looking for her, here was finally a clue. He silently thanked Ruka for bringing him here. His friend had truly helped him, even though he was not aware of it.

He will thank Ruka personally later and then, do some spying on the shop for a few days.

But first, he needed to buy a bottle of orange blossom and vanilla perfume.

~.~`~``,`.;.*.;.*.;.*.;.`,``~`~.~

When he came home to his apartment after his trip from Soothing Scents with Ruka (he looked very surprised when Natsume purchased a small bottle of perfume, but didn't comment on it) there were papers sent to his fax machine and a message from Andou came.

 _"Message one, Friday, 3.35 pm: Natsume, my man, I finished my investigations about the mystery lady you're looking for. I've narrowed down the list to 5 people and sent them to your fax machine. Unfortunately, I couldn't find information about the bouquet. I even tried bribing and blackmailing the doctor who helped sending the flowers but he wouldn't tell me anything. Personally, I don't think those flowers came from a flower shop. But, blergh, never mind that. I've done my part. You better thank me for this!"_

He shook his head in slight amusement at Andou's message. Then, his hands took the papers from the fax machine. There was information on different women in each page. The pages all had pictures of women with long auburn hair. He read the list of names.

Yuki Tachibana, 23, an art student, majoring in sculpturing. Working part-time at a convenience store. Parents are alive and living in Hokaido. She was often visiting her friend at the same hospital Natsume was staying in that autumn.

Maria Yuuri, 20, a priestess living at the local shrine. Her father had cancer and was admitted into the same hospital as Natsume sometime in summer. According to the nurses, she often visited her father during weekends.

Yoshino Hisagi, 21, a medical student. Her father was a doctor working at the same hospital, though working in the Accident & Emergency Department. Comes often to see her father at work.

Tsubaki Nanase, 24, daughter of corporate tycoon Yasutori Nanase. Currently teaches flower arranging at her father's flower arranging school. She came to the hospital often to visit her mother who had tuberculosis until her death came in early November.

The last girl had Natsume pause a bit in surprise.

Mikan Yukihira a.k.a. Mikan Sakura, 22, recently became an orphan. Currently managing her mother's shop, Soothing Scents and her father's restaurant, Citrus Bistro. Unless she's sick or not in Tokyo, she always comes to the hospital every day during irregular hours to visit children at the Paediatric Ward.

 _Mikan Yukihira. Soothing Scents._

In a flash, Natsume grabbed the perfume bottle he just bought and the files Andou gave him about his accident.

The perfume bottle read, _**'Soothing Scents,**_ _Orange Blossoms.'_

 _'….living family members …._ _ **Mikan S. Yukihira**_ _, age 22, his daughter and his only child…'_

Mikan S. Yukihira.

Mikan Yukihira a.k.a. Mikan _Sakura_.

 _Mikan Sakura Yukihira._

The papers slipped from his fingers and lay on the mahogany table, scattered like torn flower petals. He could feel his legs weakening as he leaned against the heavy wooden table. Things from the past weeks and months came back to him in a flurry blast of memories and emotions.

His Sakura _came to the hospital every day without fail._

Mikan Yukihira **_came to the hospital every day without fail._**

His Sakura _smelled like orange blossoms and vanilla._

Mikan Yukihira's late mother owned a shop **_that sells the same perfume his Sakura wore._**

His Sakura _was a great cook._

Mikan Yukihira's late father ** _owned a restaurant._**

His Sakura sounded _shocked_ when he first called her ' _Sakura_ '.

Mikan Yukihira's _middle_ name is **_Sakura_**.

Realization finally dawned at him as he made the connections. His mind whirled in shock, his crimson eyes widened in sudden comprehension, his hands turned ice cold and clammy as a hand came up and clutched at his erratically beating heart.

 _His Sakura is_ _ **Mikan Yukihira.**_ The _daughter_ of the **_man who died in his car accident._**

 _What's going on? What's the meaning of this?_

~.~`~``,`.;.*.;.*.;.*.;.`,``~`~.~

He knew he shouldn't be jumping to conclusions. He knew he was acting rashly. He knew there could be a chance that his assumptions were all wrong and that he was missing some pieces of the puzzle. But the clear, hard facts that connected were just too many to be mere coincidences.

After he finally connected the dots on his Sakura's true identity which shocked him out of his wits, he immediately grabbed his car keys and drove straight to Soothing Scents immediately.

He needed to see her in person and ask her. It was the only obvious choice left for him. It did not matter that it was currently 8 o'clock at night or she might not be there. He needed to ask her now or he'll go insane from all the speculations his mind came up with.

When he finally arrived, he saw Nonoko exiting the shop. The lights were still on. Nonoko didn't close the shop.

He parked the car and ran to the shop. The shop's entrance had a 'closed' sign and yet when Natsume tried to push the door open, it gave way without resistance. He entered. The familiar scent of flowers assaulted his senses.

What greeted his sight was a petite young woman arranging flowers. She wore a _familiar_ long sleeved pink sweater and a _familiar_ white knee length skirt that fluttered at the slightest movement. She had long auburn hair with pink ribbons threaded through her silky mane. Small hands handled the flowers with care and her skin was fair, unblemished. Her beautifully innocent face had a serene look as a slight smile graced her delicate, rosy lips. He can hear a soft, sweet and ( _wonderfullyincredibly_ _ **terribly**_ ) familiar melody coming from her as she hummed.

At his sudden arrival, the woman stood up and spoke, in the same gentle and sweet voice that Natsume had _yearned_ and _dreamed_ and **_longed_** to hear for far too long. "Sorry, we're closed at the moment."

She turned and faced him, her smile quickly faded into a shocked expression at the sight of him. Her large, dear, innocent hazel eyes widened in recognition at the sight of him intensely staring at her like a thirsty person who had crossed a dessert and chanced upon a spring with clean, crispy water.

"Hyuuga-san…" she whispered.

 _Sakura…it was her…_

Heart beating wildly in his chest, he strode towards her and immediate pulled her surprised and still figure in his arms, earning a shocked gasp from her, locking her in his warm embrace as he buried his face in his neck, loving how her body fitted so perfectly with his, greedily breathing in her lovely scent.

 _At last…_

 **He found her.**

~.~`~``,`.;.*.;.*.;.*.;.`,``~`~.~

 **End of Part II**

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A.N. : I was so surprised at the feedback I received when I posted this story. I never thought you guys liked it so much. All that positive feedback made me want to publish this chapter faster than I originally intended. Thank you so much, everyone, my silent readers, the ones who put this story in their 'alert' or 'favourite' list, the reviewers, all of you, thank you so much.

So Natsume finally met his Sakura. Let's see Mikan try to escape from him. I don't think she will be successful in her attempt though. Once you are in Natsume Hyuuga's clutches, he will never let you go, especially when you captured his heart.

Now, that I read this again, I think it was a bit rushed and also think I made Natsume a bit too much of a love-sick and slightly stalker-ish person. I think you guys don't mind though; for we all want to see when they would finally meet again. Besides, love makes a person do OOC things and think of thoughts they normally don't, which can be proven when you read the manga. Just look at the scenes in which Natsume was thinking about Mikan!

By the way, the idea of Natsume working as a defence attorney was inspired by the Phoenix Wright video game series. The moment I played the first game, I was hooked and I can't stop thinking about it. And besides, I've read and heard of plenty of fics about Natsume as a rock star, a model, a business entrepreneur, a deadly assassin, a famous actor and the occasional royalty. But rarely do we ever find a fic in which his occupation is relatively normal. So I thought to myself, "Why not make him a lawyer? It's normal enough and influential enough." Besides, imagine having a sexy, handsome and talented lawyer working for you. What girl in their right mind wouldn't want that? I know I would.

So, two more parts left. Part III will be posted next week. Make sure to be on your guard. Who knows, maybe I will post Part III earlier than you guys expected.

Until next time.


	3. Part III

**Title:** Songs and Flowers

 **Summary:** After an accident that left him temporarily blind, Natsume Hyuuga was often visited by an unknown woman. Determined to seek her after her unexplained disappearance upon his recovery with only flowers and a sweet voice as his clues, he sets out to find her. AU, Unbeta-ed

 **Pairing:** Summer Tangerine Pairing (NatsuMikan)

 **Genre:** Romance

 **Rating:** T

 **A.N. :** Please, please, please forgive me for the late update. I promised you all that I'll update in a week, but before I knew it, almost two months had passed. Part 3 gave me a lot of grief during the writing and the editing. I know how I want it to turn out to be, and how the character development will go, but the moment I tried to put into words….nothing came out. Is this what authors call 'writer's block', or am I missing something entirely? So after binge-eating on a ridiculous amount of chocolate and crackers, washed down with lots and lots of milk tea, I managed to get it all done. Thank goodness, though I now have a very painful tummy ache. I will just have to suck it up and deal with it just like every other time I had gastric pains.

 **Disclaimer:** If I own the manga, do you honestly think I would be writing fanfics?

 **Warning:** I might change the title. This title makes me go, "Meh."

 **P.S. :** Page breaker design belongs to the amazing Esa MaRie. I'm merely abusing it.

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...

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 **Part III: The Dark Side of Spring**

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Time seem to stop for both of them. The auburn haired lady was frozen stiff, unable to move an inch due to her shock, and even if she can, it would be a wasted effort, for the raven haired man had his arms solidly locked around her, one arm wrapped around her slim waist, the other was draped snugly around her shoulders. Her still figure was brought ever so closer to the man, the man's face was buried at the crook of her neck, breathing and gasping desperately, as if exhilarated. Their hearts were beating in sync; the rapid beats were easily heard if one tried to focus.

Natsume could hardly believe his luck. Here was the woman who had nursed him when he was blind, the woman who had been his salvation during those dark days.

The woman who had made him fell in love with her.

He breathed in that precious orange blossom scent of hers deeply. He needed to make up for all the lost weeks in which she was not there with him, and he was sure that he could spend the rest of his days together with her.

In fact, he can already imagine it.

He chuckled. Who would've thought that he would turn into a hopeless romantic when faced with the woman he loves?

However, Sakura seemed to be in a state of shock. She had not moved an inch from when he had embraced her. No sound came from her, and he did not feel any movement. No words of protest and no resisting hands were pushing him away from her. She did not return his hug either…and no voice came out of her mouth. There was just heavy breathing and stillness.

Natsume admit, he could not help but feel slight worry about her shock. Did she truly think she would never see him again?

Natsume reluctantly let go of his hold on her, though he kept his hands on her shoulder and waist. "Sakura?" he called.

That seemed to snap her from herself. She lifted her head and looked at him with an expression akin to a deer caught in headlights. Her expressive doe like eyes clearly showed her surprise, fear and trepidation. She stared directly at his eyes, and Natsume could not help but marvel at how beautiful she was. In all honesty, he did not really care about her appearance before he saw her in person (having himself surrounded by beautiful women all the time, he had grown rather unappreciative and slightly immune to women's looks), but he was admittedly and irrationally pleased that she is a rare beauty in her own right. Her looks and appeal are unlike most women, whose mere gaze and slight sway of hips will leave a person drowning neck deep in lust and gasping for more. Hers was a pure and innocent kind of beauty, one that made him wanting to protect her from anything that comes in her way.

And perhaps, if given the chance, he will do just that.

Her lips moved in an incomprehensible manner. "…Hyuuga-san…" she whispered. Then, to his shock, her eyes suddenly became shiny with unshed tears. She placed her small hands on his chest and pushed him slightly away from her. He gently removed his hands from her shoulders, but his intense eyes never left her tearful gaze.

He could not help but let out a bitter laughter. Did she really think he would not look for her? Did she truly wish to never see him again? Did she hate him that much? He could not help but feel an ache forming in his chest.

"Is the sight of me really that terrible, Sakura, that you would cry seeing me?" He could not help but ask. Her head suddenly snapped up and she looked at him, her warm eyes still gleaming with tears. His question was answered with a very harsh shook of her head, her auburn locks whipped around her elbows as she did so.

"No! No, of course not. That is not it…" She kept on looking at him with those expressive, dark eyes. Her lips formed into a beautifully sad smile. To Natsume's horror, her lashes were wet and tears rolled down her flushed cheeks. She stepped towards him and lifted both of her hands and cupped his cheeks. He leaned slightly towards the soft touch, and her smile widened slightly at the act, still so beautifully sad.

"I…am very happy to see you again. Even though I told you that I…would probably never meet you…I am…truly happy to see you. I'm glad that you are well, and I am glad that you are perfectly healthy…" she softly replied, her voice trembling slightly.

Her hands slid down from his cheeks and rested on his shoulders. Natsume could not help but let out a soft sigh at the light motion. He raised his hand and grasped one of her hands in his, and squeezed it gently. Sakura squeezed back, but she pulled her hand away from his hold and pushed him slightly. She stepped back and stared at him directly in the eye.

"I meant it when I informed you that it's best if you consider me nothing more than a memory."

Her hazel eyes still freely shed tears, and yet they showed a clear myriad of emotions; happiness, sorrow, fear, trepidation and determination. All of them captured his utmost attention, and each summoned forth his emotions. Natsume could tell that she truly was happy to see him, at the same time felt fear and sorrow (towards himself or something else he could not tell). Fire burned in that gaze and it was clear as day that she meant every word.

Natsume narrowed his eyes, and Sakura cowered slightly at that, but the expression in her eyes did not falter. He clenched his fists so tightly, he was sure his knuckles were white.

"Why?" he whispered. Sakura blinked and tilted her head slightly.

He could not help but ask, "Why do you not want to see me? Why did you leave?"

At that, Sakura broke her eye contact and bowed her head down. She bit on her lower lip, and stared at the flowers she had arranged before he entered.

Feeling irrationally angry, he stepped towards her. His movements caused her to step back in an effort to distance herself from him, but he will have none of that. He kept on moving forward and Sakura had no choice but to move backwards until her back met the counter near the cash register. Natsume placed both his hand on either side of her and neared his face towards her. Sakura's hands came up and pushed him at his chest, trying to put some distance between them, but he did not budge.

Undeterred, he continued, "Have I done something wrong to you? Is there something that I did in the past that made you hate me? Have I sent one of your family members to jail?"

Sakura shook her head. "No, no! Nothing like that. You've done nothing wrong." At her answer, his hand came up to gently cup her chin and lifted her head. He forced her to meet his gaze.

"Then why? Tell me, why?"

Again, she shook her head, this time with more fervour. "Please, please… Don't ask me that question. I won't answer that, I _can't_ answer that. Just please, leave me be."

Seriously? Did she truly expect him to leave it be simply because she asked?

"You know as well as I do that I can never accept things like this, not without a very, very good explanation."

At that, Sakura bit her lower lip anxiously. Natsume could not help but be drawn by it, and he wished that it was his teeth biting on her lip. Utterly, unconsciously seduced, he leaned towards her, his lips hovered over hers. Sakura stopped biting her lip, unconsciously parting them.

He truly did want to kiss her then and there, her wishes to be away from him be damned.

However, looking at her like this, her eyes shining with fear, her hands against his chest trembling, her whole body frozen stiff, he knew he could never do that. Not when she was unwilling, not when she was scared of him.

Not when he still did not know her reason for leaving.

Instead of sealing her lips with his, he brushed his lips against her earlobe. Feeling her shudder deliciously underneath him, he indulged in the temptation to nibble her delicate ears lightly. He sighed.

"Since you can't give me an answer now, out of respect for all you have done for me, I'll leave. But I will come back. And I expect an answer the next time I see you," he darkly whispered the words, heavy with intent which went unsaid but delivered clearly.

He reluctantly stepped away from her, and Sakura visibly relaxed. Her eyes still mirrored her earlier emotions, and she stared at him as he walked towards the door and pushed it open. Just before stepping out, Natsume glanced at her, his eyes intense, filled with untold promises.

"If you won't come to me, I'll come to you. Remember that."

With that, he stepped out with an anxious heart, leaving Sakura frozen stiff in the store.

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Mikan clutched a hand at her rapidly beating heart, as though it wanted to jump out of her ribcage. She slowly slid down to the floor, her legs felt as though they were rapidly turning to jelly. Hyuuga-san's words rang in her ear.

" _If you won't come to me, I'll come to you. Remember that."_

She could not help but be worried. Knowing Hyuuga-san, he will never let her go, not until she told him the whole truth. But she knew in her heart that it would not be an easy task for her. In her eyes, she truly did think that Hyuuga-san would be better off without her. He is a handsome man, an eligible bachelor, a gifted person in his chosen field of work, a charismatic yet silent individual, a wealthy person with a good background; everything a man could aspire to be. Men like that do not need simple, common, naïve and childish girls like her. She had no place in his life.

And even if he truly did held strong feelings for her, she can never stay beside him. Not with her _situation_.

To her dismay, she could feel her tears forming again. She tried to wipe them away, but salty droplets kept rolling down her cheeks. She let out a quiet sob.

In all honesty, she too held strong feelings for Hyuuga-san. Her heart would start pounding uncontrollably whenever Hyuuga-san gave her one of his rare smiles during her visits, her hands started to sweat whenever she tried to feed him food and she could feel a warm and fuzzy yet pleasant feeling enveloping her whenever she saw Hyuuga-san sleeping with a peaceful look on his face. She was not sure whether her feelings for him were love or merely a strong form of attachment. Or perhaps, she already knew, but did not want to acknowledge it, because admitting it would make her realize her place, and she could feel her already torn heart break even further at the thought.

Nevertheless, she knew she could not be near Hyuuga-san. But what could she do? Hyuuga-san found her, and although she knew that the next best thing for her to do was to run away, she had no will to do so. How can she go, when her heart wanted her to stay?

Her tears kept flowing, the dam withholding her emotions for the past weeks finally broken, letting out everything she had kept inside of her ever since her parent's death. She clutched at her heart even tighter.

' _What should I do? Should I tell Hyuuga-san everything? I don't want him to hate me, though… Otou-san, Okaa-san, what should I do? Why do you have to leave when I need you the most…?'_

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It was a normal Monday morning. The sky was clear, birds were chirping, the sun was shining cheerily in the sky and the streets below were starting to buzz with human activity.

Like all Morning mornings, Natsume would have been out of his apartment by 8.30 and heading towards the parking lot. However, something, or rather, somebody was waiting for him there. Somebody who he would rather not see again, if he was given a say in the matter.

"NAT-SU-ME!"

That was all the warning he got before something latched on to his left arm in a vice grip. He quickly turned to look at the pale, manicured hand placed on his bicep. He could feel his irritation quickly rear up as he looked at the woman who had audaciously grabbed him in such a manner.

"Koizumi."

Luna Koizumi. An acquaintance of his from high school. A woman who had the features of a beauty straight out of a Middle-Eastern fairy tale (long legs, pale skin, a slender yet voluptuous figure, blue eyes, blond hair) For as long as he could remember, she had been nothing but a nuisance to him, a thorn at his side. She was one of the founding members of his fan club (to his disbelief, such a club actually existed), along with Sumire Shoda. She had pestered him endlessly during high school, constantly asking him to be his boyfriend. After he graduated, he entered Tokyo University, hoping that none of his rabid fans could follow him there. After all, Tokyo University is a prestigious learning institute, one of the best in the world which accept only the best students, and most of his rabid fans are inept simpletons with peas for brains. They would never be able to follow him there.

Boy, was he wrong. He had forgotten that Koizumi, despite her annoying demeanor, was one of the best students in his high school. She applied for Pharmacy in Tokyo University, and was able to follow him everywhere. It was a living nightmare for him.

He was sure he was exaggerating at this point, but he didn't care. He had enough of this woman.

Thank goodness that Shoda had actually managed to get over her obsession with him by the end of his high school years when Kokoro Yome finally asked her out. That made things a lot better.

But only by a bit.

Koizumi pursed her brightly painted red lips in a pout. Had it been any other man, they would have given in to her demands by now, but not him. He was curiously unmoved by her antics.

Koizumi's lethal beauty was nothing compared to Sakura's innocent charm.

"Why so cold? I only came here to visit you and spend time with you. After all, I still haven't thanked you properly for getting rid of my good-for-nothing-husband."

Natsume's eyes narrowed slightly. _That_ again. Her ex-husband, Yuu Tobita, came to him after Koizumi filed for divorce, the reason supposedly being that he had not supported her financially a year ago. Natsume had agreed to help Tobita because he was one of the very few people who actually befriended him, expecting nothing more than sincere friendship. Tobita had looked terrible when he first came to him, and Natsume could not help but take pity towards his timid friend's plight. He defended his friend at court, easily winning the case and yet at the same time managed to get the divorce finalized without damaging Tobita's reputation and person. Right now, he's happily married to Anna Umenomiya, a patisserie.

However, instead of receiving insults from Koizumi, he was hailed as some sort of hero for releasing her from her worthless husband's ( _pfft_ ) clutches.

He pried his arm away from her grasp, his eyes cold and emotionless. "There is no need for such things, Koizumi. I did what is expected of me. Besides, you shouldn't be thanking me. I defended Tobita after all, not you."

Koizumi smiled in a rather provocative manner as she neared him and placed her hands directly on his chest. "Nevertheless, _I_ want to thank _you_. Because of what you did, I am single again, a free woman. Available. For you."

He tried to refrain from rolling his eyes in exasperation. Why can't this woman get that he really isn't interested in her, as beautiful as she is?

He took a few steps back towards his car. He stared directly at her, his bearing stern and regal. "I believe I have made this clear Koizumi; I am not interested in you, nor can I ever be. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go to work."

Dismissively ignoring her presence, he entered his car and left Koizumi there, her face pale with rage and humiliation.

As he drove, he could not help but sigh.

"I need a break," he muttered.

~.~`~``,`.;.*.;.*.;.*.;.`,``~`~.~

"Hyuuga, what are you doing?"

That snapped him out of his daze. He looked up and saw Imai staring at him in a disapproving manner, her hands crossed against her chest. His coldly beautiful cousin tapped her foot impatiently on the floor, expressing her annoyance out of his behaviour. He lifted an eyebrow at her.

"You sure took your time. Quite the nerve you have, asking me to come here when you're the one who's late," he chided. He straightened himself on his seat, lifting a cup of his coffee to his lips.

Imai rolled her eyes as she took the empty seat across him. She placed her hands on her lap as she looked at him with that unaffected look that had become synonymous to her personality. "The only reason why I asked you to come here earlier is because you would've been late if I didn't. Besides, unlike you, I have unfinished business to attend to, and big money's involved." She then gave him another disapproving look. "I don't have time to spare, and you shouldn't be wasting time as well."

He gave out a slight snort, so slight that had it not been for the fact that Imai had known him for a long time, she would have mistaken it for a cough. "The only unfinished business you have is terrorizing those corrupt politicians and obese corporate about their dirty dealings. And contrary to popular belief, I don't waste time. In fact, I've already finished all my cases. I'm taking my time off right now."

Now, it was Imai's turn to snort. "Yeah, right. We both know the day you're actually taking a break is the day hell freezes over."

He narrowed his eyes. "That's a little hypocritical for someone who works harder than I do. Besides, even if we do work in the same firm, it's none of your business if I decided to sit back and relax," he retorted. "Not when I have already completed everything and certainly not when I bring in most of our clients."

There was a strange look in Imai's eyes. "From a colleague's standpoint, it is none of my business whether you decided to take days off from work. You do bring in a lot of clients, and most of your cases have always ended successful. It is understandable that you would want to rest for a while, considering what a horrible workaholic you are." She reached for a teacup that her cousin had (strangely enough) reserved for her and sipped her tea demurely.

Her cool amethyst eyes rested on him. "However, after you healed from your blindness, you have not been yourself and as much as it pains me to admit this, I am worried about you."

He was unable to mask his surprised look at her admittance. His cousin was rarely this forthcoming. "You, worried about me? Are you sure you don't want to take a day off? You seem to need it more than I do."

That odd look disappeared and was replaced with her usual iciness. "You may think its funny, Hyuuga, but your condition and welfare is part of my concern. If you can't work, it's bad for the firm, considering most of the clients who came there requested your assistance."

He put his hands up. "And everything boils down to money. Why am I not surprised that whenever you are concerned, it always had something to do with cash?"

The iciness still lingered in her eyes, but her face was completely neutral. "I don't think you are the type of person to play around things though." Her words perked his attention. Imai placed the cup back on the saucer. Her gaze was fixated on the red liquid in the cup. Looking at his cousin behaving in such a peculiar way, he knew it was something important yet it would seem that Imai was reluctant to talk about it even though she was the one who asked him to meet her in the first place.

There are a few things he disliked. People who kept on beating around the bush and his cousin being out of character are one of them. He cared about his cousin, more than he wished to acknowledge, and seeing her so hesitant, a far cry from her usual confident self, worried him, although he would never mention that out loud. He would rather be fried in boiling oil than admit that.

He let out a groan. "Cut to the chase Imai. What is it exactly that you want to talk about? You wouldn't have asked me come all the way to this café to talk about money. If it's about funds and bills, you would have discussed it with me at my office."

"Mikan Sakura."

His body stiffened. His eyes bored into his cousin's face, wary and cautious. "How do you know about her?"

Imai continued on as though she did not hear him. "When you became blind, you were so vulnerable. You became absolutely hopeless in everything. I couldn't stand seeing you that way. It unsettled me. In fact, it bothered me so much that I couldn't visit you at the hospital, not without being reminded of who you were before the accident."

"But I know I couldn't leave you alone. So I asked a very close friend of mine to come visit you, every day if possible."

" _A friend of mine convinced me to come and check up on you, every day if possible, starting from today."_

His eyes widened in recognition as he finally connected the pieces. "So you were the one who asked her to come…" She gave a slight nod. Her fingers slid across the rim of the teacup. The expression in her eyes looked strange to him.

"She studied psychology and therapy at university before her parents passed away. She's a nice person too, though a bit naïve and too innocent for her own good. I thought perhaps she could make you pull yourself together. You needed some form of relaxation and self meditation after all. In fact, both of you need it, especially her."

Natsume understood her words immediately. Sakura had become an orphan in less than a year. It was understandable that she too needed it.

"As I expected, you did gave a bit of resistance at the start, but I knew her patience would keep her by your side. And as time went by, I could see that both of you were healing, which is a good sign. It meant everything was going well. But then, something happened to her."

Natsume frowned. " 'Something' ?" he pressed.

Imai nodded. "I don't know what it is. All I know is that something happened, and it affected her so much, she couldn't sleep for almost a week. I was… afraid that she would fall into depression again."

She briefly clenched her fist. "I tried making her talk to me. I tried cheering her up. I tried everything; anything to make her talk about what's bothering her. But she refused to mention anything about it, let alone talk about it. I let it go for a while though. I figured she would be able to solve it all by herself. After all, she managed to snap out of everything after her father's car accident without anyone's help."

"However, when your eye sight was returning, I could see that her worries had returned. She was becoming more solemn and sullen, a far cry from her usual cheerful and childlike personality. The day your eye sight finally returned, I caught her crying as she arranged the bouquet she asked the doctor to deliver to you."

At the thought of Sakura crying, Natsume could not help but feel a painful feeling clench his heart, making it ache.

 _So she did not want to leave him after all…_

Natsume snapped out of his thoughts, only to find Imai staring at him intensely. Imai continued. "I confronted her about it of course. But, like before, she would not say anything. Instead, she asked me to help her avoid you from meeting her." Imai paused for a while, before letting a small yet rare bittersweet smile grace her lips. "She had such a fearful, broken look in her eyes, and her voice was so earnest and filled with emotion when she pleaded to me. I couldn't say no to her. So, in the end, I agreed to help, after I made her promise to tell me on what's bothering her."

"I warned Dr. Itou not to tell anybody about her. I tried covering up her tracks. I planted false leads in yours and Andou's search for her. But even though you had such few leads, you still managed to find her in the end a week ago. I'm not sure whether it's because Andou helped you, or because Nogi brought you to Soothing Scents. Or maybe it's your intuition helping you; it had never failed you after all. I'd expect no less from you though; you had always managed to find a way, no matter what situation you are in."

Imai glanced out of the bay window near their table, looking at the people passing by. Natsume could not help but feel a slight worry and admiration for her. Worry, because she was rarely this earnest, which meant it must have been important enough for her to take off the unattached professionalism that had become such a part of her. Admiration, because even though he had never exactly hid the fact that he was looking for Sakura, he had never stated his search and findings openly either. And yet… she knew everything he did the past few weeks, didn't she?

"What are you going to do now?" Imai asked.

"Hmm?"

"You've found her, what are you going to do now?"

Natsume thought about it for a while. If this was a movie, he would have asked her out or been on bended knee and proposed to Sakura. He is madly and deeply in love with her, after all. He did think about such a future from time to time. And yet Sakura did not want to meet him or be close to him, despite the fact that she did want to stay with him almost as badly as he does. She may not have stated it that night when he met, but it was as clear as day to him. As much as she tried to hide it, he could see in her eyes that she did care for him.

Which meant that they were still missing something: the reason she left. It was strong enough to dissuade her from staying by his side.

"First I need to know why she left. Did she tell you the reason?"

Imai shook her head. "She did, but in a vague way. All I know is that she did it for her uncle."

Natsume frowned. "Her _uncle_? Did her uncle ask her to stay away from me?"

"Yukihira-san cared about Mikan's happiness more than anything. Knowing him, if it would have made her happy, he would have let her meet you. He did a background search on you after Mikan met you at the hospital, and he thought you were a decent enough person." Now, it was Imai's turn to frown. "The weird thing is, I asked Yukihira-san whether he forbid her from seeing you, but he said he never did that. In fact, he was very happy that she met you. Your meeting had made a positive effect on her psyche."

Natsume clasped both of his hands together. "So what exactly am I missing? If her uncle actually let her meet me, then why would she decide to disappear from my life?"

Both of them grew silent for neither have the answer to the question.

"Hyuuga."

At the mention of his name, he looked at Imai to find her staring at him with a firm look. "I came here to tell you my part in everything that happened. You've been in the dark for far too long, it's high time you knew the truth from me. I've told you everything from my side of the story. Right now, I have a favour to ask of you."

Natsume straightened himself up from his seat. "What is it?"

"Help her. As her friend, I ask that you help her. And as your cousin, I ask that you help yourself too. I can't stand seeing you both like this. It's driving me crazy."

He could not help but chuckle. "I'll give it a shot Imai. You don't have to worry about it." He leaned his cheek on his hand as he looked at her with a smirk on his face. "You know, I wouldn't mind it if you were like this all the time. You look almost human right now."

Imai scoffed. "Don't get used to it. I only decided to be a meddler and a worrywart because you children seem to need some coddling. Don't expect it to come often from me. And my services don't come free. I expect payment by the time both of you finished sorting your mess." She stood up from her seat, and walked towards the door. Natsume could not help but laugh. His cousin sure is something.

"Wait Imai."

Imai stopped but did not turn around.

"Thanks, for everything." He thought that he needed to say that to her. She had given him much to chew on.

"Don't thank me yet. Thank me after everything's over."

With that, she stepped out of the café.

~.~`~``,`.;.*.;.*.;.*.;.`,``~`~.~

"Okaa-san… I'm fine, really. There's no need to worry."

" _Are you sure dear? You really don't need me there?"_

Natsume could not help but sigh. Even though it has been a few weeks after his recovery, his mother still fretted over him like a mother hen. It was clear that he was as healthy as he could be, yet she still worried. She called every week to check up on him.

"I appreciate you worrying about me, but I am fine."

" _Well, if that's how you feel, dear…"_ There was a pause. When Kaoru finally spoke again, her voice was livelier. _"Did you know that Aoi had a boyfriend? He introduced himself to me three days ago…"_

Hearing his mother talk through the phone animatedly about whatever was going on in her life and Aoi's made Natsume feel rather serene. Although he had never realized it before, he truly did need to unwind once in a while. Especially after everything that happened the past few weeks.

Dealing with work while trying to track down Sakura, finally finding her, meeting Koizumi, trying to avoid her and Imai's revelations in the whole scheme exhausted him more than he thought they could. No matter how much he liked trying to solve mysteries, even he had his limits.

" _Natsume, are you listening?"_

His mother's voice snapped him out of his reverie. "Sorry, okaa-san. What were you saying just now?"

He could hear his mother huffing. _"Oh, Natsume. Pay attention when your mother's talking."_

"I am listening."

He knew his mother wanted to refute what he was saying, but for once, she let it slide. _"I was wondering whether you found the young lady who took care of you in the hospital. Her name was Sakura wasn't it? If you found her, I'd like to meet her."_

At that, his heart clenched, a familiar feeling yet it still ached every time it did so.

 _Sakura…_

It had been two weeks since he last saw her. True to his words, he let her be for the time being, even though he wanted to meet her badly. But he knew if he did meet her again while she was still unprepared, she would just clam up again. Or worse, break down in tears. He would not want to cause her pain or inconvenience in any way.

He would give her another week. If she still had not contacted him in any form, he would come to her.

After a few moments, he responded. "I did manage to find her. But she doesn't seem inclined to meet me just yet."

" _Oh dear…"_ Kaoru's voice sounded sad. _"Don't worry, Natsume. I'm sure both of you will be able to get over whatever problems you have."_

Natsume smiled at her reassuring words. "Thanks, okaa-san."

He could hear her mother giggling. _"Oh, and Natsume, I need you to do something for me…"_

~.~`~``,`.;.*.;.*.;.*.;.`,``~`~.~

The sound of snow crunching beneath the soles of his shoes filled the silence in the air. Red spider lilies delicately wrapped in a bouquet occupied his hands. He strode across the graveyard, his purposeful steps bringing him towards his father's gravestone.

It was a good thing he had remembered the position of his father's grave. If not, he would have been lost trying to figure out which one's which, because all of the gravestone are covered in thick layers of frost and snow, the etchings carved into the stone hidden beneath the cold white blanket.

He placed the flowers at the foot of his father's gravestone. As he cleared away the snow, he could feel the engravings beneath his fingertips.

It had been a long time since he thought about him. Kaoru had asked him to come here to visit his father. She said that maybe his father's presence could give him inspiration on what to do now. He wasn't sure whether he welcomed the thought of his dead father giving him ideas from beyond the grave, but visiting him doesn't sound like a bad idea. The cold wintry air and the silence in the graveyard cleared his head for a bit.

Feeling refreshed, he stood up and walked away. But before he left, something caught his eye; a flash of long auburn hair and a white winter coat.

His curiosity getting the better of him, he walked towards the source. A person, a woman was kneeling at the foot of two gravestones, each decorated with a bouquet of white lilies. The smell of sandalwood incense and burnt joss sticks filled the air. As the woman stood up, she turned towards him and- oh.

"Sakura."

It was Sakura standing in front of him. Her long hair flowed slightly in the wind, the white winter coat and red scarf wrapped around her neck protecting her from the cold air around them. Her expression was of surprise. Natsume could not help but notice her face was flushed. Perhaps it was due to the cold. Was she here for a long time?

A tired smile graced her pink lips. "Hello, Hyuuga-san. Here to visit somebody?"

It took a while for him to respond back, too taken aback at her appearance here. "I'm here to visit my father."

Her eyes lit up for a moment. "He must be very happy that you visited him. I came here to visit my parents. It's a rather chilly day today. I thought they needed some company."

"I see…"

An awkward silence filled the space between them. Sakura was fidgeting, her breath audible in the silence. Natsume couldn't avoid staring at her, her flushed cheeks and hazy eyes attracted his attention and concern. A nagging feeling in his mind was telling him that something was wrong with her today, and the flushed cheeks wasn't because of the cold, but due to something else.

"Hyuuga-san."

He looked at her, her eyes grew even hazier and her breath was heavier than before. "I needed to talk to you. I needed to explain myself, about what happened…" Her voice grew more desperate as she spoke.

No sooner than the words left her mouth, she stumbled forward straight into his arms and collapsed.

~.~`~``,`.;.*.;.*.;.*.;.`,``~`~.~

' _What should I do?'_

That thought crossed his mind. Sakura was in his apartment, on his bed, practically helpless.

Shortly after she fainted, Natsume decided to bring her back to his apartment. Her home was too far away from the graveyard and the weather was getting worse. Snow started to fall heavily and the winds became stronger. His place was much closer than hers. So he brought her to his place.

Glancing at her whole body trembling and shivering on his bed, he knew she was sick. It was not a fever though, he had checked her temperature.

' _What's wrong with her?'_

He had to admit, on a normal day, the very thought of the woman he loved on his bed, panting and flushed would have probably made him very, very interested in her in not so innocent ways. But he could not do that, not to somebody as pure and trusting as her. It would be the same as betraying her.

Besides, if he did touch her with amorous intent in mind without her consent, it would only drive her away from him. He wouldn't want that.

A slight movement from her caught his eye. He turned and found her waking up. Her eyelids fluttered slightly as she sat up. Her eyes were still hazy and they glinted with a strange light he had never before seen on her as she looked at him.

"Good, you're awake."

She did not say anything, opting to stay silent. It made Natsume uneasy.

"You fainted in the graveyard. My place is nearer than yours so I brought you here. I hope you don't mind."

Her lips slightly parted, yet no sound came out. Her hazel eyes still held that odd glint. She was looking at him with such want, as though he had something she needed.

Natsume shrugged it off and stood up. "I'll go get you some food. You'll probably hungry."

Before he could take a step away, Sakura's hand latched on to him as she pulled him towards her with a strength he never would have though she possessed. Soft, sweet lips met his and his eyes widened in shock. Her arms wrapped around his shoulders, her petite body pressed enticingly along his entire figure.

' _Sakura…?'_

"Please…" she whispered hotly against his lips. "Please… help…its hot…too hot…"

Shuddering at her words, he pushed her on her back, face lowered towards her as his lips once again met hers. As his hands gently roamed her body, he knew deep down that this was not a good idea. This would complicate things between them even more than they already have. And yet…

…Sakura had wanted this. She asked him to help her. How could he resist such temptation?

Her delicate hands brushed across his chest as she unbuttoned his shirt, her fingers trembling slightly. Soft moans and sighs escaped her and Natsume decided he would deal with the consequences later. Sometimes, thinking is overrated. His last thought banished as Sakura's hands grasped his shoulder, her wanton little mewls resounding throughout the room. Unable to help himself, his hands dipped lower, his mind mired in a sea of pleasure.

The world faded with a flurry of lips on lips and skin rubbing against skin and he was only too happy to let go.

~.~`~``,`.;.*.;.*.;.*.;.`,``~`~.~

 **End of Part III**

~.~`~``,`.;.*.;.*.;.*.;.`,``~`~.~

A.N. : The ending kind of wrote itself. I originally planned to end Part III with just Mikan fainting but decided against it. Besides, you guys have been wanting some development between the two, yeah? So there you have it. Consider it my apology for breaking my word.

This chapter really did a number on me. The talk with Imai was the hardest one to deal with. Yet, compared to Part IV, this one is nothing. Part IV is even worse. But never mind that.

I'll tell you guys this in advance, life is starting to take a real toll on me. For that, I can't give you a speedy update. I can promise, however, that I'll update Part IV before New Year's Eve.

And once again, thank you for reading this. I still feel it's a bit rushed, but I've figured I've withhold the update for far too long, it's unfair to you guys who liked this fic. So I hope you guy be patient with little ol' me for the next update.

Until next time.


	4. Part IV

**Title:** Songs and Flowers

 **Summary:** After an accident that left him temporarily blind, Natsume Hyuuga was often visited by an unknown woman. Determined to seek her after her unexplained disappearance upon his recovery with only flowers and a sweet voice as his clues, he sets out to find her. AU, Unbeta-ed

 **Pairing:** Summer Tangerine Pairing (NatsuMikan)

 **Genre:** Romance

 **Rating:** T

 **A.N. :** In the last update, I did promise I would update Part IV before New Year's Eve, but then things happened and I was bodily harmed in an unfortunate incident that resulted in me being in the hospital for a _veeeery_ long time, so... –insert nervous laughter, then sigh-. Then, almost immediately after I was released from the hospital, I was accepted to law school.

It was not easy. Nope, not at all. Change is never easy, especially when they happen almost immediately.

Now we all know what a horrible person I am and that my promises should be taken with a large pinch of salt; a very large one in fact. I honestly thought I wouldn't make it, but I just kept on telling myself, "Come on, think of all the people waiting for your update. Would you like one of your stories to end up like all the unfinished fics all over FFnet? You can do this."

...It really was a nightmare writing and editing this. The whole time, new scenes kept popping up and new character development flashed through my mind. Then I had to consider how it would have it fit with everything, and go through another painstaking process of editing all over again. Ugh... my stomach hurts.

Oh, and if you managed to spot out any typos or spelling errors, do know that I've tried to fix things without a beta reader. Besides, these days, FFN is acting funky. Some of the words did not come out when I posted it and it's actually OMITTING certain words as well.

 **Disclaimer:** If I own the manga, do you honestly think I would be writing fanfics?

 **Warning:** I might change the title. This title makes me go, "Meh."

 **P.S. :** Page breaker design belongs to the amazing Esa MaRie. I'm merely abusing it.

...

...

~.~`~``,`.;.*.;.*.;.*.;.`,``~`~.~

 **Part IV: The Light at the End**

~.~`~``,`.;.*.;.*.;.*.;.`,``~`~.~

The light from the morning sun gently shed its subtle brilliance towards the bedroom through a modest gap left open by the curtains. As Mikan slowly stirred from her deep sleep, she snuggled closer to the extraordinarily welcoming warmth enveloping her, like a child would in the arms of their mother. She had never felt this comfortable before in her own bed, and while she was quite used to the feel of the early light waking her up in the mornings, the side of her bed felt oddly hard and smelled of a pleasant scent of sandalwood. There was also a very strong yet unfamiliar scent of musk in the air.

That alerted her. She did not scent her pillows and blankets with sandalwood oil, she had scented them with lavender oil and vanilla extract to help aid her insomnia and depression. And musk was something she was not partial to.

Blurry hazel eyes slowly revealed themselves behind heavy lids. As her vision steadily shifted into focus, she could make out a slightly tan and fit chest in front of her at close proximity. It was a nicely muscular chest. It was also a very _male_ chest.

That thought shoved her sleep-riddled mind to full-on awareness.

Her eyes completely shot themselves open. Vivid mental images from last night assaulted her brain like a guerrilla force and she could not help but feel herself slightly tremble in horror.

' _Oh Kami-sama... Last night, Hyuuga-san and I had...'_

Shortly after an ill meeting with Uncle Kazu's doctor, she had felt so internally exhausted and weary, she wanted to cry. A visit to her parent's grave had always managed to calm her down somewhat, so she went to the graveyard. She recalled meeting Hyuuga-san. She remembered what few words Hyuuga-san and she had exchanged and the awkward silence that followed. Suddenly, she could feel a jolt of overwhelming heat run down her spine. Next thing she knew, she was at Hyuuga-san's place. She remembered how she had reached out to him. And then...

Her face turned pale with dread.

Mikan did not know why she had done such a thing. She herself could not understand why she had stirred him up in such a way. All she cared and could think of at that time was how her body felt so unbearably hot and her blood coursed feverishly through her. And there just so happened to be somebody near her who could help her with her problem.

Slowly, while painstakingly trying to avoid jostling the peacefully sleeping man beside her, she slid off from the bed. Wincing slightly at the pain between her legs, she tip toed around the room, silently collecting the discarded pieces of clothing on the floor and quickly put them on. As she walked towards the bedroom door, her steps slowed down to a stop before turning around, looking at the incredibly handsome man with whom she had spent the night with. Her heart clenched sorrowfully before she hurriedly stepped out of the lavish yet Spartan apartment, quickly leaving the complex with nothing more than her belongings and the bittersweet memories of last night's events.

~.~`~``,`.;.*.;.*.;.*.;.`,``~`~.~

After he was sure Sakura had left the apartment, Natsume opened his eyes. As he sat up, he carded his hand through his hair and let out a soft curse.

He had always been a light sleeper and would usually wake up early in the morning out of habit. Today was no different. He had been awake when Sakura had slightly moved him from his position in the bed. However, he was still groggy from sleep and his mind was clearly not fully awake. He was merely acting unconsciously when he pretended to be asleep the whole time Sakura was there. He didn't know why he did it, but now that he thought about it, he supposed it was better this way.

Had he woke up and alerted Sakura, it would have made things more awkward and uncomfortable between them. The grounds they were on were rocky enough as it is; he did not need it to be unpleasant as well. The fact that they had just slept with each other not a few minutes after they had exchanged words did not make things better for them.

Unable to help himself from letting out an explosive sigh, he stood up from his bed and threw the blankets into a laundry hamper at the corner near the bed. As he proceeded to strip the sheets of the mattress, he paused his movements, his eyes lingering on the sheets. A familiar, undeniable scent permeated the whole room and the blood spots at the centre contrasted starkly against the bright white sheets; definitive proof that last night had not been a mere fantasy and it was as real and solid as concrete. The virgin blood which soiled the sheets had also given out one more info; that up until last night, Sakura had been untouched. An uncomfortable feeling started to form in his gut as he felt a mixture of both satisfaction and guilt course through him.

He would be lying if he said last night was not one of the best nights of his life. The fact that it was his first love's first time made memory sweeter than he thought it was supposed to. It doesn't matter that he had hand shaped bruises at the back of his neck and nail marks on his back. It all served as a reminder of last night, a fact that he certainly doesn't mind.

However, the guilt he felt was also overwhelming. Looking back at the scenario prior to the events and Sakura's hurried escape from his apartment, he was sure she wasn't thinking straight when it happened. It made the consent she gave him last night dubious, for people can never give clear consent when they are unable to think or are under the influence of something. Natsume could not help but wonder whether she regretted everything that transpired between them.

He grimaced. That thought left a bitter taste in his mouth. Well, so much for wanting to not scare her... All that effort waiting for her to come around were all for naught, he bitterly thought. If he thought she was avoiding him then, now he was positively sure she wouldn't go anywhere near him within a one kilometre radius.

This really can't go on. They can't go on avoiding each other every time something major happen. They would never go anywhere. If this keeps up, he would never be close to her. Heck, he would never even find out why she was avoiding him in the first place, something which he was supposed to do the moment he met Sakura at the cemetery.

That thought struck him. Come to think of it, Sakura was trying to tell him something at that time, wasn't she? She wanted to tell him about something that happened, before she suddenly fainted. Yeah, she was trying to inform him about something. But, what was it?

He straightened himself up, mind already made up.

He supposed he was being impatient, what with everything that transpired between them, but in his opinion, he had given Sakura enough time to gather her wits about. If he included the time that he spent looking for Sakura then giving her time to finally explain things, he had roughly given her more than one month to think about everything. It's about time they settled things. If this continues to drag on, there is a very good chance that Sakura will try to find a way to completely disappear from his life, something which he would definitely not let happen.

It's time to meet her and confront her in person.

But first, he needed obtain her phone number from Imai.

~.~`~``,`.;.*.;.*.;.*.;.`,``~`~.~

Red painted lips twisted into a sneer as a pair of cruel eyes watched the brunette woman leave the lavish apartment in a hurry. The black binocular observed the woman's dishevelled appearance and focused on the slight strip of bare skin which was unsuccessfully concealed by her red scarf. It was littered with red and blue marks. The nature of the bruises blooming on the woman's neck was clear indication of what happened in the apartment. Words that would make a foul-mouthed sailor flinch and blush ran through her mind.

How dare she.

How dare that brown haired bitch get close to her man after everything that she did to make her avoid him. How dare that naïve little village girl try to ensnare his heart when he's completely out of her league. How dare that shameless slut sleep with her man.

How _dare_ she.

~.~`~``,`.;.*.;.*.;.*.;.`,``~`~.~

Natsume stared at the phone number flashing on his screen. It took some time to convince Imai that what he was doing will not harm Sakura in any way. His cousin, despite wanting things to be settled between him and Sakura, was extremely adamant about keeping her friend's information private. He had to bribe her with out-of-season crabs just to have her make time for him. It was worth all the trouble, though. She finally gave in after much persuasion on his part.

After organizing everything he wanted to say in his head, he finally pressed the call button. The ringing went on for a long time and it felt as though Sakura would never pick up his call. Then, as if to prove his thoughts wrong, the ringing stopped and a soft, familiar voice spoke through the phone.

" _Hello?"_

He could feel his heartbeat accelerating. _It's now or never._

"Good morning, Sakura. It's Natsume. Natsume Hyuuga."

"… _ahhh… Hyuuga-san."_ Her voice slightly wavered. _"What is it?"_

"Can we meet some time this evening? We need to talk."

" _Forgive me, Hyuuga-san, but I really don't think we should meet."_

"I know that right now we're not really on good terms, but do you honestly think something like this should be dragged out? We should solve this problem as soon as possible."

" _There is nothing more that needs to be done. The best thing for both of us right now is to avoid each other. If we continue to meet each other…"_

"Things have been awkward and uncomfortable between us, I understand. But avoiding meeting each other will not solve any problem you might have on your part; you're running away from it instead. I do not want us to have any bad blood and I never like leaving things unsolved, so I hope we can meet this evening."

" _Hyuuga-san, I believe I've said this before time and time again that it is better for both of us if we pretended we have never met each other. Why do you want to complicate things? Besides, no matter what I do, I cannot come see you."_

"Why?" He could barely get a hold of himself. He was positively burning with frustration and exasperation by the adamant refusal she kept on giving him.

" _I believe I've also told you this before, I cannot say. So please, don't call me anymore. There is nothing more I could tell you. Please."_

Natsume could not help tightening his grip on his phone out of frustration. "You won't come to me? Fine. I'll come to you instead."

" _What? But -"_

"I'll meet you at Soothing Scents at 4 o'clock, sharp. Be ready." Then he hung up.

~.~`~``,`.;.*.;.*.;.*.;.`,``~`~.~

Mikan stared at her phone screen in slight shock. Hyuuga-san's words together with his impatient tone echoed in her mind.

" _You won't come to me? Fine. I'll come to you instead."_

' _Why?'_ she thought. _'Why is he so intent about this?'_

This is just not something she thought Hyuuga-san would do. This….whatever it is, would not be of any benefit to him. The only thing that he would gain from all of this is her companionship. In her honest opinion, it would not bring him any fame or fortune. So why all the trouble?

' _Or perhaps he wanted to talk about last night…'_

It seemed probable. They had slept with each other just last night even though they barely knew each other. They weren't even close friends, let alone lovers.

She had been trying to avoid thinking about last night. What if he was disgusted by her suddenly bold behaviour after fainting at the cemetery? What if he hated her now? But the scariest question by far was…

'… _what if I ended up pregnant with his child?'_

Her memory of last night was, although vivid, it was also slightly disoriented, but she remembered enough. Both of them were impatient and they did not use any form of contraception. She wasn't on pills and Hyuuga-san was too…occupied, for a lack of better word. She had checked before, and she was not sterile. She was young, and the possibility of her getting pregnant is high. There was a very good chance such a thing could happen.

It was not the fact that she would be the mother of an illegitimate child that scared her. _No_ , it was the thought that she would be seen as a burden or unwanted thing by Hyuuga-san simply _because_ she was bearing his child. Hyuuga-san is a bachelor, with hardly any news of scandalous affairs or significant others. She knew that when somebody as eligible as him remained single till now, it was probably because he enjoyed his bachelorhood, he had not found any suitable wife for himself or he was simply too busy with his work as a successful defence attorney. If she were to bear his child out of wedlock…the scandal would ruin his pristine image and undisputed reputation.

And how would she tell Uncle Kazu about this?

When she returned home this morning, Uncle Kazu had been sick with worry. He had searched for her endlessly last night and called her phone numerous times. The fact that she had not answered his calls just made him anxiously worried even more. She definitely felt guilty about it. She was his only living family remaining. When her parents died, she wasn't the only one who lost her family. Uncle Kazu lost his beloved little brother and his dear sister-in-law. He needed her just as much as Mikan needed him. If he knew what had transpired, he would never be able to look at her without thinking that he failed in his duty as a responsible uncle. He would never forgive himself.

And she would never forgive herself for making him feel that way.

She could not think of anything, her chaotic thoughts and anxiety preventing her from thinking clearly.

So she did the next best thing at the time: call Hotaru.

Hotaru had answered her calls a few seconds after she made it. She then explained about Hyuuga-san's call and (on a sudden thought) asked Hotaru if she was the one who gave Hyuuga-san her phone number. Hotaru did not answer for a while. After a moment of silence, she replied that, yes, she was the one who gave her number to him.

Mikan had to admit, she was appalled. "Hotaru! Why would you do that? You've said you wouldn't help him…"

Hotaru's stern voice rang in her ears. _"I don't know what's going on with you, Mikan. And it seemed that whatever problem you have, Hyuuga is the only one who can help you right now. I'm not going to sit by and watch you be miserable all the time."_

At that, Mikan went silent. She knew that Hotaru was merely worried about her, and helped Hyuuga-san because she thought it would aid them both. But still…

 _She just didn't want to confront him about this!_

" _Just talk to him, Mikan,"_ Hotaru advised, her voice had become soft. _"He can help you. Talk, and sort things out. After that, let's see how things go. If it turned out for the worst, I'll help. But for now, just work out things between you two."_

Before she hung up, she repeated, _"Just talk to him, Mikan."_

After the call ended, Mikan thought about what Hotaru told her. Slightly dejected about Hotaru's answer, she lowered her phone and placed it in her handbag. Even though Hotaru told her to talk things through, she was still hesitant about it. But what Hotaru said did made sense to her. If she wanted to get out of this, she needed to talk to him.

Besides there was that _deal_ she made… She couldn't meet Hyuuga-san, not after that _deal_.

Then, Hotaru's words rang in her mind.

" _Just talk to him, Mikan."_

It's as though those words are giving her the strength to go through this. She knew the risk of what would happen if she did go meet him, but, somehow, if it can help the situation for just a little bit, she'll take the risk. Mind made up, she stood up and went to Soothing Scents.

She would go see him.

She owed him that much.

~.~`~``,`.;.*.;.*.;.*.;.`,``~`~.~

Natsume honestly never thought that she would actually wait for him. The idea that she would find some way to run away from him again crossed his mind quite a few times. But there she was, patiently sitting near the cash register, mindlessly arranging some of the flowers on display.

When she heard him came in, she immediately stopped whatever she was doing and turned towards the door. Upon seeing him, she straightened herself and a strange, unidentifiable expression settled on her face. She did not look as though she was ready to bolt any time soon though. _Good_ , he thought. She finally realized that no matter what she did, he would always be chasing her.

"Good evening," he greeted. She gave him a polite smile. There was a slight edge to the smile, but at least she was making an effort.

"Good evening, Hyuuga-san."

His gaze roamed around the welcoming little shop. "Is there anybody in here?"

She shook her head. "No. I closed the store early today. It would be better that way. Besides, Nonoko wanted to hang out with her friends. It's been a long time since she's last spent some time with them."

He nodded in approval. "Then, if there's nothing else, come with me. Let's take this someplace else." He walked away. He did not look back. He knew that she would follow him. He knew what he saw in her today; something had changed her mind, it would seem. The gentle footsteps falling in sync with his seemed to confirm his thoughts.

As she closed the shop, Natsume stood near his car, silently watching her. Unlike the previous encounter, this did not feel awkward or uncomfortable, it just felt so serious, so unlike their time together at the hospital when he was sick, he wished he could do something to change the admittedly sombre atmosphere.

 _Be patient just for a little while longer. Hopefully, this time she would explain everything._

Sakura walked towards him. He wordlessly motioned for her to get in his car. She obliged. She sat beside the driver's seat. Natsume slipped into the car, and with the sound of the engine purring into life, he drove.

~.~`~``,`.;.*.;.*.;.*.;.`,``~`~.~

To be honest he did not have any destination in mind. All he wanted was to find a quiet place to talk about everything without any outside interference. As he drove, the only place that came to mind was a park near his old home. There was a rather big cherry blossom tree there and when he was a child, hardly anyone came to that park in the evening, so he drove there.

During the whole ride, Sakura never spoke a thing and neither did Natsume. Natsume also never drove while turning the radio on, so the whole time they were in the car, there was a rather stifling silence. He had wanted to break the ice a bit, but it seemed out-of-character for someone like him who had always made it a point to be direct, no matter the situation. He wanted to do something, _anything_ , but it did not seem right at the time. Besides, Sakura kept on staring out the window of the car, too occupied with whatever it was that attracted her attention. It also did not seem as though she wanted to talk to him either, at least, not until they reached their destination.

It continued on that way until they reached the park. Sometime during Natsume's days in university, the park had been upgraded. It soon became fairly well known in Tokyo after its renovation due to its splendid waterworks and floras. The illumination at night courtesy of its aesthetically beautiful lights, along with the silence of it all, made it a perfect place for couples on a date or somebody needing a quiet place to escape from the hustle and bustle of city life. Though there were now no flowers due to the fact that its winter, the quiet atmosphere of the park made it an ideal place to discuss things.

Natsume parked the car, and motioned for Sakura to follow him into the park. Sakura silently obliged and they walked along the park until they reached a place where there were virtually no people and the only thing of note there is a vending machine and a sturdy wooden bench.

They stopped there and he asked for Sakura to sit on the bench and wait for him. He went to the vending machine and bought two drinks, black coffee and hot cocoa. He then gave the hot cocoa to Sakura and sat beside her as he sipped his cup of hot coffee.

Sakura muttered her thanks but did not drink the cocoa. Instead, she kept on staring at the dark chocolate liquid as though it could give her all the questions and answers she needed to help her and solve her problems. Both of them did not speak to each other, hesitant to start a conversation despite knowing that they need to talk about it at some point.

Sakura was the first one who broke the silence. "Hyuuga-san."

Natsume did not verbally respond. He turned his head towards her, silently gesturing her to continue.

"Frankly speaking, I do not want to talk with you at all for it would save both of us from a lot of grief. However, in light of things that had happened, I feel as though you deserved to know a few things that I had kept from you and it would not be fair if you were kept in the dark about everything. So, I'll try to tell as much as I could." Sakura started to nibble her lower lip, something that Natsume had started to realize that it was a habit born out of anxiety. It transfixed Natsume for a short moment.

She continued, "I do not know where to start though. So ask me your questions. If there are a few questions in which I could not answer you, please understand that it is not because I resent you, it is merely not something I could tell you."

Natsume nodded. Although he would have loved to find out about everything about her, he had to respect that decision. After all, all things considered, they barely knew each other, for they were merely people whose fates seemed to be hopelessly intertwined with one another. The time they spent together in the hospital felt like a distant dream, a pleasant one. He did not whether to feel happy about that.

"What did you want to tell me back then when we were at the cemetery?"

Sakura sighed. "Ah… it had something to do with why I left. Once again, at the time, I feel as though you had earned the answers, even though admittedly, I am very reluctant to even mention anything about it. However, please forgive me Hyuuga-san, for now I think that it is better if you do not know about that."

Natsume could not help stop the slight frown from gracing his face. "If you wanted to tell me about it first hand, it must have been something of note. I needed to know what it is, so that I could solve…whatever problem both of us have."

"I cannot tell you much. All I can say is this, that it is related to my uncle's health and me. It had nothing to do with you, and I do not wish to speak on my uncle's behalf. While I do apologize for not being able to completely answer your question, I do hope you understand."

Natsume sipped his coffee in silence. It was the same answer Imai had given him a week ago, and it pretty much backed up Imai's tale. It seemed as though there was nothing he could do about it. Sakura seemed rather unyielding about it all. He supposed he had to let it slide.

"Alright then. I will not push the issue." Hearing that, Sakura sighed in relief. However, her expression changed into a panicked one when Natsume voiced out his next question.

"Why did you leave after I healed?"

She looked like a deer caught in headlights, her lovely chocolate irises shone with panic. "I…After a while, I realized that staying by your side will do more harm than good to not just me, but to you as well. So I left. Besides, I have stayed true to my promise that I would take care of you until you healed. I simply see no reason why I had to stay with you after you healed."

"What kind of harm would you staying with me do to both of us?"

Regretfully, she shook her head. "Again, it is something I cannot tell you. You have to find about that yourself, I'm afraid."

"Why can't you tell me?"

"That matter does not concern over just you and me, Hyuuga-san," she explained. "It involves somebody else as well. And telling you about it is the same as getting into that person's business; something I have no right to do."

Natsume wanted to protest, to push the issue a bit further, but seeing the look of stubbornness on her face, he knew she would not budge. Not even an inch.

He stared at her as though trying to will her to tell him everything. Sakura ignored him, and focused on her cup. She softly blew over the steam from her cup of hot cocoa and sipped slowly. He was slightly (and unconsciously) finding himself preoccupied with how the pink, petal looking lips closed over the rim of the cup as she slowly drank. He remembered the very pleasant feeling of closing over those soft lips with his…

He shook his head slightly, trying to dispel his amorous thoughts. _Oh, honestly. It's like I'm a hormonal teenager looking to get some action._ Then, he remembered something she had stated just a little while ago.

"You said you see no reason why you had to stay with me after I healed. I thought we were becoming friends. Don't people stay with each other after they became friends?"

At that question, Sakura smiled. It was a bittersweet smile, as though that topic brought over forth both pleasant and unpleasant memories. Admittedly, it took Natsume off guard. And here he thought she would probably never associate him with anything nice after last night…

"I do consider you my friend Hyuuga-san. A very good friend of mine, in fact. Someone very important to me."

He was confused. "Then why…?"

She gently placed her cup on her lap and looked at him straight in the eye. "It is exactly because you are my good friend that I stayed away from you." Her face softened. "I've told you before that staying with you will only bring harm to you and those around me. What kind of person would want to bring harm to the people she care about?"

 _Ahh… so that's why…_ "So you left because you did not want to see me harmed in any way? You left because you were worried about me?" The fact that she left because she was worried about his well-being touched him immensely, even though he was still annoyed about the whole ' _leaving-him_ ' thing. He suddenly had the urge to hug her.

 _Not now, Hyuuga…listen to her explanation first._

She nodded. "I also had to think about everyone too. The only way to keep everybody out of trouble is if I stayed away from you. So I did." She gave out a slight smile. "Though I guess it does not seem to be working is it? After all that trouble to disappear from your life, you managed to find me again…"

Natsume snorted at that. "If you truly wanted to completely get away from me, then you're doing a bad job."

Sakura tilted her head at that. "I beg your pardon?"

"You wouldn't have sent me those flowers if you truly wanted to disappear from my life. If you wanted to tell me that you're leaving, you should have just sent _only_ the card. Or better yet, send nothing at all. Sending me those flowers was the biggest mistake you made." Those flowers inevitably led him to her, after all.

Sakura turned her head away from him, her cheeks slightly flushed for some reason. "I never said I wanted to be away from you Hyuuga-san," she softly confessed. "I merely said that it was the best way to keep everybody safe. However, if circumstances had permitted it, I would have chosen not to leave." Her cheeks turned to a very healthy shade of red after the admission.

Natsume could not refrain himself anymore; he plucked the cup out of her hands and placed both his cup and hers beside him as he then gathered her in his arms. The sound of her shocked gasp escaped him; he was too occupied with the lovely feeling of her warm and petite frame in his arms. He buried his face at the crook of her neck, pressing his mouth at the exposed warm skin.

His action only spurred Sakura to start stuttering."Hyu-Hyuuga-san! What…"

"You've said it would be best for both of us if we stay away from each other." His mouth slid almost sensuously from her neck to her ear, Sakura trembled as he did so. "What if I don't want to?"

"Hyuuga-san, please. I've told-"

"Though you left, you admitted it yourself that you had no wish to leave me," he whispered. "A few weeks ago, you told me that I should leave you alone and yet, here you are with me." Sakura rebuked it, saying, "Hyuuga-san, you insisted to meet me!"

Natsume ignored her. "You agreed to meet me despite reasoning to yourself that it would be a bad idea." Once again, Sakura tried to explain. "I owe you an explanation, Hyuuga-san. I can't just leave you without at least answering your questions." But Natsume just shook his head, as though disbelieving every word that came out of her mouth.

"But if you really wanted to leave me, you should have just done so. There was no need to send me cards or flowers or agree meeting me like this. You should have just left me alone. There was a chance that I could find you, which is true, but even if I did, you should have just continued running. You should've just asked Imai to continue helping you, instead of just asking her to cover up your tracks." At that, Sakura grew silent.

"Your attempt at running is so half-hearted; it's as though you want me to catch up to you and find you," Natsume concluded. "Everything you do contradict with what you actually set out to do in the first place." He slid his hands up her back and around her waist, bringing her closer to him.

"Even now when I'm hugging you like this, you make no attempt to push me away."

At that reminder, Sakura came to her senses and pushed him away. He obliged but did not let go of her hand. Sakura stared at their joined hands as though conflicted, which she probably was. He slowly relaxed his grip.

"If you hate it, you can pull away." If she pulled her hand away, Natsume would get the picture. He would understand that Sakura had no interest in continuing their correspondence. Although he loathed doing so, he would respectfully back away. He had been trying to ignore the possibility of it, but seeing how incredibly dodgy she was being made him think: what if it had something to do with her mental health? Just until recently, she had been diagnosed with severe depression and had also just recovered from it. If he kept on pushing her like this, there is a possibility that everything he's doing would affect her mentally. That is the last thing he would want to do.

When Sakura did nothing, did not pull away her hand from his hold, Natsume could not help his hope from flaring up.

"I don't understand," Sakura started. "Why would you go so far as to do this? There is nothing I can offer to you that you don't already have. You are already a successful person; you hardly need anything else. So why, why go this far?"

She had said that with a look of confusion on her face, and her eyes…they truly looked lost.

It seemed that Sakura thought that he was chasing her because there was something she could give to him. She's right. There is something that only she could give him, but it's not what she was probably thinking.

"If I told you I'm doing all this because I love you, would you believe me?"

Sakura's eyes widened at that. She did not reply though, nor did she say anything else. She just stared at their joined hands, her eyes intense. She fidgeted a bit, as though uncomfortable.

Natsume slightly cocked his head. "Well? Do you believe me?"

She did not reply. For a while, Natsume thought she would never answer. But a quiet admittance came. "I have no reason to believe you. But I also have no reason to disbelief your claim either."

 _That's good_ , Natsume thought. It meant he still had hope to change everything. He'll be damned if he let this chance she had unconsciously given him slip away from his grasp.

"I love you," he once again stated. "I've never felt this way with anybody else before. So you're wrong when you say there is nothing that you can give me. There _is_ something I want from you, something that only you can give."

Sakura's cheek flushed a deep red, but she still did not move. She continued to stare at their hands neatly clasped together.

Her silence encouraged him. It meant she was listening. "I'm aware that this is very sudden. We hardly knew each other before the accident. And even now, we still don't know one another. But I'm willing to take this chance, if you'll let me."

Still silent. Natsume could feel his earlier bravado wavering. Why was she so silent? "I'm not going to force you to accept. It's even alright if you never accept my feelings for you. I'm fine if you continue to just see me as a friend. It's alright if we only had friendship between us."

Sakura gave him a disbelieving look as she responded. "You're fine with friendship? Even though I probably won't love you in the way you want me to? I find that quite hard to believe, Hyuuga-san."

At that, Natsume let out a small smile. "I confess, I wouldn't be totally fine with it. However, one of the things that I really want you to give is your company." Sakura's hand slightly shook in his grasp at that admission. She lifted her head and gazed straight at him, her eyes meeting his. Her cheeks were still red, proof of her embarrassment, but it looked as though she wanted him to continue. So he did.

"It does hurt that you probably don't feel the same way about me, but it's preferable than not having your company at all. In the end, what I really want is to have you by my side, whether as a friend or a lover." Natsume let out a slight smirk. "Though the latter is indeed more preferable."

She averted her gaze from him, her ears flushed red. Natsume chuckled. She really was quite easily embarrassed, wasn't she?

"...I cannot accept your feelings for me yet," Sakura softly spoke. "I myself don't know how I feel. However, if you really are fine with my indecisiveness, then I wouldn't mind spending more time with you. Just know that right now I could only treat you as I would a friend." Her head bowed rather dejectedly. "Forgive me."

Natsume shook his head as he cupped her cheek. It felt so soft and warm, Natsume almost sighed at the pleasant feeling it gave him. "Don't be," he muttered. "This is more than I expected; it's more than enough for now. Frankly speaking, I wouldn't blame you for going out of your way to avoid me. I haven't behaved well. Besides…" Natsume's lips formed a bitter smile. "…who would ever want to hang out with the person who killed their father?"

Now that he thought about it, it's rather justified that Sakura would avoid him or hell, abhor him for that. He practically took her father away from her with that car accident. It would have been alright if Izumi Yukihira had lived through the crash. But he didn't and Natsume was the only one who survived with admittedly minor injuries and fleeting blindness; a lucky incident considering he could have lost his life as well. He might as well be labelled as a murderer in her eyes.

His thoughts were proven wrong though. Sakura turned her head so quickly towards him (Natsume was surprised she didn't get whiplash), her brilliant doe eyes fierce with emotion. "Don't say that!" She shook her head furiously. "It was not your fault and it was not my father's. It was simply an unfortunate accident where no one is to blame." Her voice became quieter. "I never blamed you for that."

Natsume was unconvinced. "Are you sure you don't? You don't resent me for surviving while your father lost his life? I wouldn't also blame you if you hate me for it. You have every right to be angry."

"Is it fair for you though?" she countered. "My father may not survive it, and I admit that Uncle Kazu and I grieved for this loss, but it would not be fair for you as well to wish for your demise. You also had family who loves you and cares for you. I would not wish for them to experience the pain of losing someone precious to you. It is not pleasant. It _never_ is."

Sakura had a rather sad look in her eyes. "Besides, as morbid as this thought is, I think that it's better that Otou-san died that day. Ever since Okaa-san died, he was never quite the same. He loved her far too much to let her go. And her death was so unexpected, I think that the fact that she died never fully dawned on him. At least now in death, he's reunited with her."

She then smiled at him as she slightly tightened her hand around his. Natsume never realized that he had never let go of her hand all this time. "Besides, do keep in mind, Hyuuga-san, that not all bad things came out of the accident. I wouldn't have met you if the accident never happened, now would I?"

Slightly spellbound by the smile she gave him, Natsume shook his head in a resigned way. "Even after all this, you're still optimistic. I was wondering when that optimism of yours disappeared."

Sakura laughed at that. The pleasant sound of it soothed Natsume's nerves. "Oh no, Hyuuga-san. It never disappeared, merely hidden underneath all that unnecessary angst. Now that everything's all cleared up, it resurfaced again. Simple as that, yes?"

Natsume went along with it. "Very simple. So simple I wondered whether there was ever a need for all the drama earlier. We may as well just skip everything and went straight to reconciling. It would have been better like that."

Sakura giggled harder. It really was a nice change compared to the dreary air around her earlier. Being cheerful really does suit her more than being all broody. "You know Hyuuga-san, sometimes I can never tell whether you are being serious or merely joking. It often sounds like both."

"Natsume," he corrected.

Sakura stopped giggling. "I beg your pardon?"

"Call me Natsume," he said. "We're friends now, aren't we? There is no need to be formal with friends," Natsume clarified.

Sakura broke into a smile. "Alright, if I'm going to call you Natsume, you might as well call me Mikan. It's what my friends call me. Your nickname for me is nice and all, but it would be nicer if you call me by my given name," she offered.

Even after Natsume knew her real name, he refrained from referring to her as Mikan because she had never given him that privilege. To him, she had always been Sakura, his dear friend and first love. He doubted she trusted her enough to let him call her by her birth name. But now that he had her permission…

"Mikan," he tested. Sakura, no, _Mikan_ beamed approvingly at him. "Yes Natsume?"

His name never sounded so beautiful to him before. _Finally_ , although not everything had come to light, he _finally_ had Mikan with him.

Both of them continued chatting throughout the entire evening. Their drinks set beside them were left forgotten as they both talked, happy to finally be with each other truly without any form of reservation. It was a wonderful evening, indeed.

~.~`~``,`.;.*.;.*.;.*.;.`,``~`~.~

After that, life had never been better for Natsume. Mikan finally stopped avoiding him and he had spent much of his time in her company. He had never been more content in his life.

Imai, Ruka and his family both noted the change in him. Imai demanded out-of-season crabs again as consultation fee. Natsume was grateful enough to comply with her demands, even though he would never admit it. Ruka was happy for him, though the slight sly glint in his eyes made him a bit wary of his best friend. Whatever Ruka was thinking about Mikan and himself, he did not want to know.

His mother and Aoi were introduced to Mikan sometime after the talk he had with her. His earlier worries about their opinion towards Mikan were confounded when they hit it off well, despite the fact that Mikan could not provide any reason for her disappearance. His family did not mind it at all, and was very happy to meet with the person who helped Natsume get through one of the toughest times in his life. In fact, they approved of Mikan so much that immediately, his mother suggested to him, "Why don't you take her as your wife? She seemed to be able to handle your obnoxious attitude just fine." She then winked at him, and gave him a thumbs up. "You have my approval, Natsume ~ ~."

His sister wasn't any better. When Kaoru was animatedly conversing with Mikan, Aoi pulled him away to the side and whispered, "If you let that wonderful woman go, I'll castrate you, baka-niichan." He smacked her away affectionately at that cheeky tone. Aoi shrieked and ran to Mikan, claiming that he bullied her. Mikan merely laughed and caressed her hair soothingly. She didn't mind indulging Aoi when she's being spoiled, which was one of the reasons why Aoi had taken such a great liking to her.

He also had the opportunity to meet Kazu Yukihira. A stern yet protective guardian to Mikan, he immediately started bombarding him with questions upon their meeting. Natsume answered to the best of his abilities. Kazu Yukihira, after the meeting (Natsume liked to call it as interrogating though) was over, he gave him his approval, but not before threatening to throw him over Tokyo Tower should he do anything to his beloved niece. Mikan protested at the threat, though she was immensely glad that her uncle approved of him.

As for Mikan, things were progressing slowly yet steadily between them. She was still not ready to accept his feelings, but it seemed that she was becoming more open to the prospect of it. More often than not, both of them found themselves in rather intimate situations. It was nowhere near sexual, but it was warm and comforting and Natsume wouldn't mind it happening more often.

He had to wince slightly at one thing though. He had taken away her first time and so, he apologized for that. Mikan was slightly embarrassed at the apology. But she admitted, in an extremely shy voice, that she didn't mind giving him her first time, even though it happened in a rather sudden and awkward manner. The only thing she didn't like was the slight discomfort and pain she felt after that night. That confession left Natsume even more mortified. Mikan, forgiving as she is, merely laughed it off and said it was alright.

"It was supposed to hurt right? I guess both of us were…enjoying ourselves too much to care about the aftermath, weren't we?" she said. Both of them became a bit flustered after that. However, Natsume was glad she didn't regret it though because he certainly _didn't_. Like hell would he regret one of the best things that ever happened to him, even if it was kind of awkward.

Strangely enough, he had not seen Koizumi after that night with Mikan. Perhaps she finally gave up her advances and left him alone. If that was the case, then Natsume was glad he didn't have to deal with her any more. She was becoming more annoying by the second anyway.

After he was finished with work, he was planning to spend time with Mikan at the Paediatric Ward at the hospital. Mikan made it a habit to visit them every day and Natsume did not mind accompanying her on her visits. The children were a bit skittish of him at first, but they warmed up to him after he spent more time getting to know them. He did not mind spending time with children, for they were vastly different from the people whom he dealt with daily at the firm where he worked. Their innocence soothed him, similar with how Mikan's presence warmed him to the core.

He went straight to the Paediatric Ward and when he entered, he expected to see Mikan playing with the children and telling them stories. Instead, all he found were the children huddled together. Their faces were pale and Natsume instantly recognized the look of concern and slight fear in their eyes.

He immediately went to them. The children slightly calmed down when they realized it was him. "What's wrong?" he asked.

One of the older children, a crippled boy in a wheelchair, wheeled himself towards him. On his lap was an enormous bouquet of red roses. Slipped between the blood red blooms was a plain white envelope. The boy handed the flowers to him.

"A woman came by a while ago," the boy said. "She told us to give this to you. She said if we don't, something bad will happen to Mikan-neechan." The boy looked at him, as though wanting confirmation. "Mikan-neechan will be alright, wouldn't she?"

The other children turned to look at him, worry written all over their young faces. The growing bad feeling at the pit of his stomach grew, but he merely ruffled the boy's hair. He then proceeded to open the envelope. Inside was a card and something which looked like glossy photo paper. He read the card first.

 _Darling,_

 _If you want her to be safe, come alone. And don't even think about calling the police. If you do, who knows what I'll do to her? Don't keep me waiting. I'm not a very patient person._

 _Love you lots,_

 _XOXO_

Dread filled him, his hands shakily took out the picture. The picture felt heavy between his fingertips. As he looked at the picture, the dread turned into horror as the feeling crashed on him like a tidal wave.

Tied to a wooden chair, her skin littered with bruises, an IV drip with a blue coloured liquid attached to her arm, wearing nothing but an incredibly loose _yukata_ , was _Mikan_. _His dear Mikan_.

In that moment, it felt as though his heart stopped beating.

~.~`~``,`.;.*.;.*.;.*.;.`,``~`~.~

A.N.: Now, I know I said I'll end this fic by the end of the fourth chapter but frankly, I don't think it's possible. However, rejoice for the fact that there is only one chapter left after this (for real this time) and an epilogue. So you guys can look forward to that. All the loose ends in the story will be tied up in the next chapter, so hopefully it would answer whatever questions you guys had about the fic ^^

I don't know when I'll update, but hopefully before the end of December. I had exams I need to catch up to and a shit ton of case files I need to read. I miss being a high school student. At least there wasn't so much to catch up to with so little time during high school. Ahhh, the woes of a university student.

By the way, thank you to everyone, especially to the reviewers who supported me. Yeah, I'll try to update more often. I can't promise you guys on speedy updates, but know that I have no intention of leaving this fic unfinished. I would never disappoint you guys that way because I know how frustrating it feels. So thank you, all of you.

Until next time.


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